Olympic Athletes will be tested, in more ways than one

Tokyo decided to move forward with the 2020 Olympics, however, the competition is delayed until July of 2021. Currently, visitors to Tokyo have to take a mandatory 14-day quarantine before roaming about the city, and the Olympic athletes will be under heavy Covid-19 scrutiny during their time participating and chillin' at Olympic village.

In addition to being required to be tested for the virus within 72 hours of arrival, athletes will also undergo testing every 96-120 hours, or every 4-5 days. The organizers have exempted athletes and key stakeholders in the games from the 14-day quarantine, instead opting for the ongoing testing.

Tokyo expects 15,000 competitors, and in an attempt to keep the village from getting too dense, will be encouraging athletes to spend less time in Tokyo. This means if they are done competing they should not linger in the city and for this one particular edition of the Olympics, just fly home and be safe. “We want to be considerate to the athletes, so the village doesn’t get too dense,” Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto told reporters after the talks. “After the Games are finished, we want the athletes to go back home as early as possible.”

The organizers said they will determine how many spectators from around the world will be permitted by the Spring of '21, with prospective vaccines from Pfizer and others making Tokyo much more hopeful for large crowds. “Regarding the vaccine, just recently we have started to see positive news but at the moment it is not available yet,” Muto said. “What might happen, what could happen, it is unclear… so we are working under the assumption that the vaccine isn’t available.”

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