The Manila Times

Uganda Olympic team member tests positive on arrival in Japan

TOKYO: A member of the Uganda Olympic team has tested positive for coronavirus on arrival in Japan, just over a month before the pandemic-postponed Games, officials said.

The first group to arrive from Uganda — a ninestrong party, including boxers, coaches and officials — landed at Tokyo’s Narita airport on Saturday. They are the second team to arrive after the Australia women’s softball squad on June 1.

But one of the African nation’s delegation tested positive during screening at the airport, a government official told reporters. The person tested twice but their condition remained unknown, reported local media.

“I heard the person has been isolated based on regulations,” Hidemasa Nakamura, the Tokyo 2020 Games delivery officer, told reporters, renewing a pledge to take strict measures against infections.

Public broadcaster NHK said the group had all been vaccinated and tested negative in Uganda before they came to Japan.

The team was originally due to have arrived in Japan on June 16, but their flight was cancelled following a surge in Covid-19 cases in Uganda, local media said.

The other members of the Ugandan party have already left the airport for Osaka, western Japan, where they will train ahead of the Games.

This was the first case showing positive Covid test results among Olympic arrivals from overseas, local media said.

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2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/282114934534027

The Manila Times