Two positive cases in athletes’ village

There have been two positive cases of coronavirus found in

South Africa’s

football team in the athletes’ village of the

Tokyo Olympics

.

The tournament organizers have announced that ten new cases of COVID-19 are found in the latest round of tests on Sunday, which will take the overall number of this month’s cases to 55.

The South Africa Football Association has released a statement confirming that Thabiso Monyane and Kamohelo Mahlatsi, who play for South Africa’s football team in the Olympic games, have returned positive tests.

Team South Africa chief medical officer Dr Phatho Zondi said in a statement:

"Every member of Team South Africa required full medical clearance as an eligibility criteria.

"In addition, they were encouraged to isolate for two weeks pre-departure, monitor health daily, report any symptoms, and produce two negative nasopharyngeal PCR tests taken within 96 hours of departure, as per Tokyo 2020 requirements.

"The timing of the positive results suggests that the PCR test in these individuals was done during the incubation period of the infection, which is how they could be negative in South Africa and then positive in Japan.

"They are now in isolation where they will continue to be monitored and will not be allowed to train or have any physical contact with the rest of the squad."

International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach has talked about the matter, insisting that the positive tests won’t put the Japanese people at risk and that people should not be worried about the situation.

"We are well aware of the skepticism a number of people have here in Japan,"

he added at a news conference.

"My appeal to the Japanese people is to welcome the athletes for their competitions."

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