Tokyo: Czech beach volleyball player Ondrej Perusic became the third athlete at the Olympic Games Village to test positive for Covid-19 Monday. In a separate development a woman gymnast training in Chiba prefecture also got infected Monday. The two incidents have dealt fresh set of blows to the mega-event which opens in less than four days. This comes after two South African footballers tested positive Sunday for Covid-19. Perusic was the second positive case to be revealed in the Czech Olympic contingent. The Tokyo Organising Committee has so far confirmed 58 Games-related Covid-19 cases.
“Despite following all precautions (on) Covid-19 beach volleyball player Ondrej Perusic became infected. He is currently asymptomatic and is in isolation according to the rules,” the country’s official Olympic team Twitter handle posted.
‘Kyodo’ news agency later reported that ‘a female gymnast from the United States’ has tested positive for virus at her pre-Tokyo Olympic training camp. “The name of the athlete, who is in her teens, has been withheld by the city of Inzai, Chiba Prefecture,” the agency reported.
Perusic’s sample came positive n Sunday during testing at the village, according to Czech contingent head Martin Doktor. “He also has absolutely no symptoms of the disease. However, PCR analysis confirmed the result of the antigen test,” Doktor was quoted as saying by the Czech Olympic Committee’s website. “It’s still fresh information and everything is evolving very fast,” he added.
The Czech Olympic Committee said that the team received a message about the Perusic’s positive result Monday morning by e-mail. It also asked them to take the player for PCR test at the village.
“We waited several hours for the result. When it turned out to be positive, we delivered Ondra’s things. The organisers then took him to a hotel, which is designed to isolate asymptomatic cases, because Ondra is currently in good health,” the team’s Chief physician Jiri Neumann said.
The Tokyo Games Organising Committee’s daily update of Covid-19 cases did not mention any athlete Monday, revealing three cases on the day.