COVID-19 cases found at Olympic hotel in Japan as IOC hails 'historic' Games

With less than 10 days left until the Tokyo Olympics 2020, a number of COVID-19 cases have surfaced at a Japanese hotel has raised serious concerns among the sporting fraternity. The hotel is where dozens of Brazilian Olympic team members were staying.

Seven staff members at a hotel in the city of Hamamatsu, southwest of Tokyo, have tested positive for the virus, according to a city official.

The Brazilian delegation who were staying in the hotel were immediately moved to a separate hotel where they are currently in a bio-bubble. All 31 members are said to have tested negative for the virus.

A sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in the host nation has once again got athletes in Japan walking on a thin rope. The news comes just a day after top Olympic officials promised that the Tokyo Olympics would be a "historic" Games.

Despite all the precautions, restrictions as well as the exclusion of spectators at the Olympics, staging the world's biggest sporting event during a pandemic is turning out to be a real test.

Earlier, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced a state of emergency in the capital city until the end of the Summer Games. Despite that, 1,149 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the host nation on Wednesday, the most in nearly six months.

IOC President Thomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide held a meeting to discuss the preparations for the #Tokyo2020 Games, which will open nine days from now on 23 July. The meeting was also attended by @Tokyo2020 President Hashimoto Seiko.https://t.co/WuExyRDAOw

— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) July 14, 2021

Medical experts consider this new variant of the virus to be a serious reason to worry. They have stated that even though players and support staff are living in a bio-secure bubble, external forces such as the movement of the staff could create a room for superspreaders.

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 are scheduled to commence from 23 July and will end on 8 August.