Athletes’ village still safe: IOC health advisor

A health advisor for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) insisted on Monday that the Olympic Village is safe despite more positive COVID-19 cases being reported among Tokyo 2020 personnel.

Brian McCloskey, who is advising the IOC on COVID-19 countermeasures, told a media conference that individual infections are to be expected and are lower than initially imagined at this stage.

According to Tokyo 2020 organizers, 58 positive coronavirus cases related to the Games, including four athletes, had been reported as of Monday since July 1.

McCloskey gave a firm “yes” when asked if the Olympic Village is still safe with the rising number of virus infections.

“We see cases currently having been tested before departure, and they’re not coming... we see people at the airport and they can get filtered there and they can get filtered when they get to the village,” he said. “Each layer of filtering acts as a reduction of risk for anybody else.”