Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister, Japan, visited Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to inspect the Covid-19 border control measures on Monday (June 28) ahead of Tokyo Olympics, ready to kick start from July 23, 2021.

With just 25 days left in the World’s biggest sporting tournament, Japanese officials are pushing hard to make the event a success to be held in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. In midst of Prime Minister Suga’s Haneda visit, Yasuhiro Yamashita, President, Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) admitted that there is “no way” to stop the rise of positive cases during the Games. 

Covid-19 is rising in Japan, especially in the capital city Tokyo- the host for Olympics 2021. In the past 24 hours, the city reported 317 new cases – 100 more than the previous week. A state of emergency was also lifted in Tokyo last week but the cases are on a constant rise.

Yamashita said that in the current situation, it is impossible to ensure there will be no cases in Tokyo when delegations arrive but stressed that “thorough measures” would be implemented at airports to combat the spread of coronavirus.

“No matter what measures are put in place, there is no way we will have zero positive cases arriving,” said Yamashita.

“Even if you’ve had two vaccine doses, it doesn’t guarantee every individual will be negative. In order to make sure no clusters arise, we need to have thorough measures at the border at the time of entry to Japan,” he added.

During Suga’s visit to Haneda Airport, he inspected the border protocols for athletes and other attendees coming from various countries. He said, “We must continue implementing anti-virus measures while remaining highly vigilant.” Further, “If necessary, we will quickly take additional steps.”

The pressure on JOC regarding stricter covid-19 counter measures arose when the Ugandan delegation recorded two positive cases after their arrival in Japan earlier this month.

On June 18, a nine-member group from Uganda arrived following which a team coach tested positive on his arrival at Narita International Airport. He was tested for Covid-19 despite being tested negative before landing and reportedly being fully vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

On further investigation, the Ugandan coach was found to be tested positive for the Delta variant of COVID-19.

The remaining members of the group were then allowed to travel by bus to their hotel, Izumisano in Osaka Prefecture, Tokyo.

Later, the entire delegation and a city official were deemed to have been in close contact and were asked to remain in their hotel and quarantine till July 3. In this course, a second positive case surfaced.

Hidemasa Nakamura, Tokyo 2020 Games delivery officer indicated that all passengers have travelled with an infected person could be deemed in close contacts and they’ll prepare a system for isolation on arrival.

“We’ll immediately prepare a system to isolate and test them even before making a determination [on whether they had close contact],” Nakamura said, according to Kyodo News.

Katsunobu Kato, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Japan said that a separate car would be arranged for the athletes and staff who had been in close contact with the infected person so that they can safely be taken to a different location to isolate.

According to Kyodo News, Suga was taken to all the airport areas to check the safety measures. He was even taken to the Haneda Airport vaccination site where pilots and flight attendants were receiving doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Japan’s vaccine drive has so far jabbed 13 million people against coronavirus. Japan’s administration statistics showcase that around 10.3 percent of the country’s population have been fully vaccinated while 21.5 percent are vaccinated with at least one dose. On the vaccination process, Suga said, “We will closely examine the situation and ensure as many people as possible are vaccinated.”

To curb the spread of virus, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made detailed guidelines for all the athletes and management for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. The IOC claimed that more than 80 per cent of people inside the Athletes’ Village will either be fully vaccinated or be in the inoculation process during the Games.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the face of Tokyo Olympics as no foreign fans will be allowed to attend Olympics and Paralympics. However, JOC has given a green signal to 10,000 domestic spectators to watch the Games.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will begin from July 23 to August 8, followed by the Paralympics from August 24 to September 5, 2021.