New restrictions, and the choice to postpone the decision on the presence or not of local spectators until June.

This is what the organizers of the 2021 Olympics, the city of Tokyo and the government jointly announced on Wednesday, in a statement sent to media around the world.

Athletes tested every day

"The measures to combat Covid-19 included in the Playbooks (practical guides) published last February have since been revised and updated significantly in order to respond to the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus and to the evolution of the health situation ”, it is written.

Here are the most significant measures:

  • All participants must pass two Covid tests before their flight to Japan.

  • Athletes and anyone in close contact with them will be tested daily.

  • All other Games participants will be tested daily for three days after their arrival in Japan.

    After the first three days and throughout their stay, they will be tested regularly.

  • All participants should only follow the activities defined in their activity plan.

    They must maintain a distance of at least one meter with participants who have already been in Japan for more than 14 days, as well as with Japanese residents.

  • All participants must only use vehicles reserved for the Games and are not allowed to use public transport.

The schedule of each person present in Japan for these Olympics will therefore be carefully studied and controlled.

As for the presence of local spectators - the public coming from abroad being already banned - a decision on the subject will be taken in June.

Tokyo and three other Japanese departments have since Sunday been placed under a third state of emergency in the face of the increase in Covid-19 cases, which requires sporting events to take place behind closed doors.

The population still largely opposed to the Games

The main medical adviser of the government, Shigeru Omi, judged Wednesday that it was "time to discuss the Olympic Games", in view of the "situation of infections" and the "overwhelmed hospital system".

The Japanese people are still largely in favor of a further postponement or cancellation.

But despite these concerns and the worsening situation, the organizers continue to claim that the Olympics will be able to take place.

"The question is how to organize safe Games," Tokyo-2020 President Seiko Hashimoto repeated Wednesday.

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  • Covid 19

  • Tokyo Olympics 2021

  • Olympic Games

  • Coronavirus

  • Sport