Athletes who have been in close contact with people infected with the novel coronavirus will be allowed to compete in Olympic events if they test negative in PCR tests beforehand.
People who have been in close contact with infected people are required to self-isolate for 14 days in Japan. However, the government and the Tokyo Games organizing committee decided on Thursday that this would not be the case for athletes competing at the Olympics, which are scheduled to start on Friday.
According to guidelines compiled by the government and the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, athletes who have been in close contact with people infected with the virus will have to undergo a nasopharyngeal PCR test every day, for the duration of their stay in Japan.
They will be allowed to train and compete in events on the condition that they: stay in private rooms; do not leave their rooms except for training and events; and eat alone in their rooms. They will be allowed to compete if they have tested negative within six hours of the start of their event.
Separate walkways will be created for such athletes at training and event venues.
Additional tests will be conducted after events for sports in which athletes are in close contact with competitors or teammates, such as judo, baseball and soccer.
Lists of Olympians who might have had close contact with each other will be kept so that athletes can be notified in the event that close contacts test positive after events.
Public health centers will determine who are close contacts, and the organizing committee will decide if players are allowed to compete.
The guidelines also stipulate that athletes who have had close contact with others because they have violated rules in the Games Playbooks will not be allowed to train or compete.
The Playbooks state that even those who have been in close contact might be allowed to compete under certain conditions. The government and the organizing committee had been working on the specific conditions.
It remains to be seen whether the new guidelines will prevent the spread of infections among athletes.
The incubation period of the novel coronavirus is said to be one to 14 days. Depending on the timing of tests, even infected people might test negative. This is why people who have been in close contact with infected people are currently required to self-isolate for 14 days in Japan even if they test negative in PCR tests.
Initially, the government and the organizing committee were considering a strict standard that would not allow athletes to compete for up to six days after close contact with an infected individual.
However, it is believed that their priority was ensuring that athletes had an opportunity to compete, as the Games would be ruined if many athletes who had been in close contact with infected people were barred from events.
Atsuo Hamada, a special professor at the Tokyo Medical University Hospital's medical center for travelers, said, "Even if a PCR test is negative, we cannot say that the person is not infected."
However, virus loads are low among infected people who test negative, and thus "the possibility of infecting others during events is low," he said.
-- Suga calls for all-out efforts
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged his Cabinet to make all-out efforts to ensure the Games are held in a safe and secure environment during a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
The Olympics, which will be held during a COVID-19 state of emergency, are scheduled to start on Friday.
"I ask that you work with a sense of urgency until the very end," Suga said. "We must ensure thorough measures against infection are implemented to protect the lives and health of the people and realize the safe and secure Games."
Suga said that all possible measures were in place to manage virus control at airports and the activities of athletes and other related personnel in cooperation with the organizing committee and the Tokyo metropolitan government.
He also ordered the implementation of thorough measures against cyber-attacks and drones in the vicinity of Games venues.
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