Adding to the increasing list of worries surrounding
the beleaguered Tokyo Olympics, Czech beach volleyball player Ondrej Perusic has tested
positive for COVID-19 in the Games Village, officials said. The 26-year-old is
the latest to test positive at the complex, after an analyst and two South
African football players also contracted the virus.

In a statement, Czech Olympic team head
Martin Doktor said Perusic submitted a “positive sample during everyday testing
in the Olympic Village on Sunday, July 18”. “He has absolutely no symptoms. We
are dealing with all the details and… naturally the anti-epidemic measures
within the team,” he added in the statement.

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A staff member in the Czech contingent had
tested positive for COVID-19 upon landing in Tokyo, the country’s Olympic
Committee said on Saturday. The delayed Games are scheduled to begin on Friday.

The Olympic Village is a complex of apartments and dining areas and will host up to 6,700 athletes and other officials once the Games get underway. 

Meanwhile, organisers insisted the Village was a “safe place to stay’ despite the apparent outbreak in cases. 21 members of the South African football team were designated close contacts of the three members who have tested positive, leading to fears of a potential cluster.

However, officials downplayed the risks of further spread, sayng there have been “no significant bumps” so far.

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“The IOC and Tokyo 2020 are absolutely clear that the Olympic Village is a safe place to stay,” Tokyo 2020 spokesperson Masa Takaya told reporters.

“The important thing, I have to tell you, is about the response to the positive cases. 

Takaya said a total of 61 people connected to the Games have tested positive for the virus, but they are a small fraction of the thousands of tests conducted so far. 

The 21 close contacts in the South African team have been asked to stay in their rooms and were unable to train on Sunday despite being days away from their opening game against hosts Japan.