The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japanese organisers agreed to test Olympic athletes for the coronavirus on a daily basis, as they have updated the playbooks during a five party meeting.

The decision comes less than 90 days before the start of the postponed Tokyo Olympics on July 23. All participants are required to take two Covid-19 tests before their flight to Japan.

The five parties also agreed to make a decision in June on how many spectators will be allowed to enter venues amid the rapid spread of new variants of the coronavirus.

The Tokyo Olympic organising committee first planned to draw up a basic policy on capacity by the end of April. Overseas spectators are banned from attending the Olympics due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the organisers decided in March.

Tokyo and three other prefectures have been under a third state of emergency since Sunday due to another resurgence of infections. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged bars and restaurants in the four prefectures to refrain from serving alcohol and offering a karaoke service under the measure that is expected to last until May 11.
Japan’s vaccine roll-out has been extremely slow since its launch in mid February. Only 0.8 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, according to the prime minister’s office.