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Tokyo Olympics: Fully vaccinated Ugandan Olympic coach tests positive for Covid
A Ugandan Olympic coach has become the first person to test positive for Covid-19 for the Tokyo Olympics
A coach in Uganda’s Olympic team tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in Tokyo, despite being fully vaccinated.
The entire Uganda Olympic group including 26 athletes and 30 staff are fully vaccinated with two shots of AstraZeneca.
The Ugandan Olympic Committee said the coach has no symptoms.
More athletes and staff from the Ugandan Olympic team are due to arrive in Japan in the coming days.
Rising concern over safety of Olympics
This comes amid growing concern over the safety of the Tokyo Olympics.
The country’s top Covid adviser also said Friday that staging the Olympics without spectators would be “desirable.”
Japan has already banned international spectators from the games, with the government yet to make a decision about domestic spectators.
Japan has only fully vaccinated about 16% of its population according to Reuters, although other reports despite this number. CNN says this statistic is likely closer to 9%.
Covid outbreak in Uganda
Uganda is already battling a second wave of the virus, with an increase of 130% in reported cases over June.
On Friday, the Ugandan government tightened lockdown restrictions in the country.
The Ugandan President said the lockdown will tackle the “aggressive and sustained growth” of the virus.
“We are experiencing very high hospitalisation rates and deaths for Covid-19 patients among all age categories,” the president added.
Uganda has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the world.
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