TOKYO: A member of Serbia’s rowing team tested positive for the new coronavirus on arrival in Japan, an official said on Sunday, the third Covid-19 infection confirmed among Olympic team members visiting for the Tokyo Games starting this month.

A member of Uganda’s Olympic squad tested positive for the virus on arrival in June and a second member was confirmed as having the virus a few days later.

One of Serbia’s five-member rowing team tested positive during a screening at Haneda airport on Saturday night, said Takashi Ikeda, an official at the sports section of the central Japan city of Nanto, which had been scheduled to host the Serbians’ training camp.

The man in his 30s was sent to a medical facility, while the other four were isolated in a separate facility in Tokyo, Ikeda said.

“Since they are expected to be isolated for two weeks, the Serbian rowing team is unlikely to come to Nanto for training before the Games,” he said.

The group was to have travelled to Nanto in Toyama prefecture on Sunday to hold their training camp through July 18, ahead of the June 23 start of the Games.

Rowing teams from Greece, South Africa and Russia arrived in Nanto earlier this month for training camp, he said.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2021