Good news ? Let's wait. According to several sources “ close to the file », mentioned by the agency Kyodo News, Japan is considering easing travel restrictions for all foreign athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. And this, whatever the health situation in the world, next year, at the time of the two events.
The same sources explain that Shinzo Abe's government is preparing to put in place a process that would allow athletes and their staff to enter Japan even in the event that the COVID-19 pandemic is not entirely resolved. controlled. Competitors would benefit from a pass to participate in the Games, including those coming from a country whose nationals will not be authorized to travel to the archipelago.
The Tokyo 2020 special plan will be overseen by the economic division of the National Secretariat for Security, a coordinating unit of Japan's diplomatic and security forces. It will be discussed next September, during a summit meeting devoted to the fight against the coronavirus, to which representatives of the government, the city of Tokyo and the Games organizing committee will be invited.
Always according Kyodo News, it is planned that athletes, members of management and officials must undergo a series of RT-PCR (polymerase chain reaction) screening tests, before their trip to Japan, then upon their arrival and during their stay . The Japanese authorities are also considering reducing external contacts as much as possible during the Games.
Since last February, Japan has tightened travel restrictions for foreign visitors. Last week, 18 new countries, including Algeria, Cuba and Iraq, were added to the entry ban list. It currently lists 129 countries.
Last month, a first door was ajar, with authorization for business travelers from Vietnam. The Japanese government is currently talking with several other Asian countries, including Thailand, to mutually ease travel restrictions, but under certain conditions.
The IOC has never hidden it: the Tokyo Games can only take place on the condition that all the member countries of the Olympic movement – there are currently 206 – can be present. The position of the Olympic body will not change.
The Japanese know this. The information revealed by Kyodo News confirms their desire to do everything in place to secure the event, including in the event that COVID-19 remains a hot topic on the planet at the time of the Games.
However, the challenge promises to be colossal. Zachary Binney, an American professor at Oxford College of Emory University in Atlanta, explained this to the site AroundtheRings : the athletes' village will undoubtedly be the place most exposed to the risk of spreading the virus during the Games.
« It will be necessary to test its occupants every day or, at worst, every two days, he warns. Waiting for symptomatic cases to appear is already too late. People will take a great risk by staying at the Olympic Village. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to limit social contacts in such a place. The goal of the organizers must be to prevent the virus from entering the village. »
For the American professor, the question of spectators must also be taken very seriously. “ They must be Japanese, or have resided in the country for a certain number of days.”, he suggests. For others, the Games will be experienced remotely.
