By Daniel Leussink
TOKYO (Reuters) – Officials of the Dutch Olympic committee on Tuesday expressed concern and unease about the quarantine conditions faced by four of their athletes and two team staff who tested positive for COVID-19 at the Tokyo Olympics.
The six Dutch team members, including 21-year-old rower Finn Florijn https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/rowing-dutch-team-agrees-isolation-measures-after-positive-tests-2021-07-26 and skateboarder Candy Jacobs https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/olympics-dutch-skateboarder-jacobs-says-heartbroken-after-testing-covid-positive-2021-07-21, have been quarantined according to Tokyo 2020 protocols following positive tests.
Dutch technical director Maurits Hendriks and other team officials were meeting with the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday to discuss the quarantine conditions of those who tested positive, Hendriks said.
The athletes’ dreams had already been shattered by testing positive for COVID-19, Hendriks said, describing the quarantine situation as “very distressing” at a news conference.
“It’s not what you expect from the Japanese organisation when it comes to isolating,” he said.
Those who are quarantined are forbidden from getting fresh air, while being confined to ‘very small’ spaces which stands in contrast to calls for constant ventilation to reduce infection spread, according to Hendriks.
“One of the most important things is that they see outside air because the windows are locked and are not allowed to be opened … We think that is really serious,” he said.
The Dutch delegation had been asking for clarity about quarantine protocols for months in the run-up to Tokyo 2020, but had never received it, Hendriks said.
“If you then have to conclude afterwards where our people ended up, that’s really unacceptable as far as we’re concerned,” he added.
Tokyo 2020 organisers and a spokesperson for the IOC did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the criticism on the quarantine conditions.
The United States’ Olympic committee had also been invited to the meeting with IOC representatives to discuss quarantine conditions at the Games, Hendriks said.
Bryson DeChambeau, golf’s world number six, is among American athletes who have tested positive https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/golf-dechambeau-replaced-by-reed-after-positive-covid-19-test-2021-07-25 for COVID-19.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink, editing by Ed Osmond)
