Eight members of the Ugandan Olympic team have been put under quarantine until the start of July after one of its members tested positive for coronavirus on arrival last week.
The nine-member delegation including boxers, weightlifters, coaches and officials was the first batch of participants to be flagged off for the coveted games.
They arrived on Saturday in Tokyo with a month left to the start of the games.
But despite being vaccinated and testing negative before travel, Bombers head coach Patrick Lihanda tested positive during the mandatory screening at Tokyo’s Narita airport.
Lihanda was isolated, and the rest of the squad was given green light to proceed for their training base in Izumisano, southern Osaka.
“But our local healthcare centre questioned the eight members and designated them as close contacts with the person who tested positive,” a city official told news agency AFP.
“Now we are requiring them to stay inside the hotel until July 3,” the official said, adding that the city was still looking into the possibility of allowing training outside the hotel. The eight members have so far tested negative and are in good condition, the official said.
They have not left the hotel since arriving or had contact with others, he added.
The team, which is the second to arrive in Japan for the Games after Australia’s softball players, was originally due to arrive in Japan on June 16.
But their flight was cancelled following a surge in Covid-19 cases in Uganda, local media said.
The coach was the first positive virus case among officials and other Olympic participants arriving in recent days, according to local media. The local organising committee put in place strict guidelines for athletes as part of their effort to hold incident-free games.
