Brazilian Judo team locked in corona hotel

At least eight staff at a Japanese hotel hosting Brazil's Olympic judo team have tested positive for coronavirus , local officials said Thursday. Health and sports officials at Hamamatsu city, west of Tokyo, said virus screenings were done before the judo delegation of around 30 members arrived there on Saturday.

None of the infected individuals came in contact with the athletes, they said. The news comes as Tokyo prepares to host the Olympic Games mostly behind closed doors, with strict anti-infection measures placed on athletes, officials and journalists.

“Today we’re living in a hotel where there’s no one else but us,” Ney Wilson, the frustrated team leader said. “We can’t even touch the buttons in the elevators, there’s a person there to do that for us.

“These are the patience Games.” The six members of the Brazil team are tested daily for COVID-19 and obliged to use gloves when entering the self-service restaurant.

“We have a restaurant for our exclusive use with cuisine adapted for Brazilian tastes,” he said. “No one sits facing anyone else, everyone sits in front of the wall.”

The athletes train in a self-contained bubble, separated by glass screens from the public permitted to watch them prepare.

A second group of judokas who are due to arrive in Tokyo on Thursday will be kept separate from those already on site, Wilson said. They will be forced to train and eat separately for four days in compliance with strict COVID-19 protocols.

Judo is one of Brazil’s most successful Olympic disciplines, with at least one podium appearance at every games since 1984. Wilson said the priority was maintaining that excellent record.

"Only those who have proof of a negative test are working" with the judo team, said Yoshinobu Sawada, a sports official at the city.

"We explained to the team that only (healthy workers) are in the bubble. We think they have understood the situation and our counter-infection measures," he told AFP.

Tokyo is currently under a virus state of emergency, with infections surging. The city recorded 1,149 cases on Wednesday, the highest figure since January.

Olympic participants will be subject to strict virus rules and kept largely away from the Japanese public.

The International Olympic Committee said Wednesday that of over 8,000 people who arrived between 1 and 13 July, just three tested positive after arrival and were isolated.

IOC chief Thomas Bach also pledged "not to bring any risk" to Japan with the Games, which open on 23 July.