The central government's policy on handling those who have come in close contact with an infected individual has been met with complaints from local governments of prefectures that are hosting Tokyo Games athletes.
Aichi, Gifu and Mie prefectures jointly submitted a letter of request to the government to reinforce airport quarantine.
"It's quite normal to hold [athletes who are suspected of being in close contact with an infected person] after an airport quarantine," said Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura at a press conference on Thursday. "It doesn't make sense that [the central government] makes local medical institutions take responsibility for everyone apart from those who are infected."
Athletes from Canada, Britain and Laos are scheduled to train in Mie Prefecture.
"Local residents will feel uneasy if we accept athletes who are suspected of being in close contact with an infected person," said a senior official of the Mie prefectural government. "I hope the central government will take responsibility and have them be quarantined until it is confirmed that they are not infected."
On June 25, Fukushima Prefecture wrote a written request to Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the Organizing Committee of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa regarding the need for stronger border controls. In the letter, the prefecture requested the central government to make it its responsibility to identify close contacts of athletes who have been infected with the virus.
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