Tokyo (AFP)

The anti-Covid measures at the Tokyo Olympics "work", assured Thursday the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, when the Japanese capital recorded a record number of new cases since January.

In addition, an athlete, recently arrived in Japan in anticipation of the Olympic Games (July 23-August 8), tested positive for the coronavirus, as well as five other people working for the event, the organizers announced Thursday.

Mr. Bach for his part assured that a visit in the morning to the Olympic Village had convinced him that the antivirus measures were "in place and they work".

"We were able to see and convince ourselves that all delegations follow the rules and support the rules, because they know that it is in their best interests to be safe," he said at a meeting with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

"It is in their interest and in solidarity with the people of Tokyo."

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A state of emergency has been in effect again since Monday in the Japanese capital, where Covid-19 is on the rise with fears of the spread of the Delta variant.

Bars and restaurants are called upon to reduce their opening hours and theoretically should not serve alcohol.

Tokyo recorded 1,308 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, exceeding 1,000 cases for a second day in a row.

Thursday's figure is a record since January.

- Judo and rugby -

The Tokyo-2020 organizing committee did not give much information about the six people who tested positive on Tuesday and Wednesday, four of whom are residents of Japan.

Japanese authorities are monitoring other cases.

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Eight members of the staff of a hotel in Hamamatsu (central Japan), where the Brazilian judo team is based, have tested positive, local health and sports officials announced Thursday.

These tests had been carried out before the arrival last Saturday of these participants in the Olympics, and none of the infected people was in contact with the Brazilians, assured these authorities.

In Munakata (southwestern Japan), a member of the staff of the Russian Sevens rugby team tested positive and hospitalized.

The rest of the group is now confined to the hotel.

If the tests are negative, the team will be able to resume training on Friday, according to local authorities.

In addition, in Kurume (southwest), eight members of the Kenya women's rugby sevens team were declared contact cases after the discovery of a case of coronavirus on the plane taken by the delegation.

The Kenyan group's tests came back negative, according to local authorities.

- Avalanche of restrictions -

Tokyo is preparing to host the Olympic Games behind closed doors and with an avalanche of restrictions for all participants - sportsmen, officials or journalists from abroad.

According to the Japanese press agency Kyodo, the organizers plan to welcome less than a thousand VIPs (foreign officials and dignitaries in particular) at the opening ceremony of the Olympics on July 23, in the new Olympic stadium with 68,000 seats.

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The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach promised Wednesday to "not take any risk to the Japanese people", while Japanese public opinion still sees in the Olympics a potential accelerator of the pandemic in the country, little affected by the first waves of Covid-19 with less than 15,000 officially recorded deaths since early 2020.

Out of more than 8,000 people who arrived in Japan between July 1 and July 13 for the Olympics, three tested positive after their arrival and were isolated, their close contacts also being "subject to appropriate quarantine measures", then assured the CIO.

Residents of the Olympic Village will be vaccinated at 85% and this rate is almost 100% for IOC members and Olympic staff arriving from abroad, Mr. Bach also underlined.

© 2021 AFP