Mumbai, Aug 13 (IANS): Though there are 10 days to go for the start of Paralympic Games on August 24, the organising committee has already detected five Covid-19 positive cases well before 4,400-odd athletes start reaching Tokyo. The Paralympic Games will start on August 24 and will continue till September 5.

The Organising Committee for Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOKYO 2020) announced four of these five Covid positive tests on Friday, which include two Games-concerned personnel and two Tokyo 2020 contractors. One case has been reported by the local municipal authorities.

Though four of these confirmed Covid cases are Japanese residents, one person is a non-resident and a matter of concern. All those that have tested positive have been advised 14 days in quarantine.

The organising committee will have its hands full as the athletes will start reaching soon. The Tokyo Paralympic Games participants will be regularly tested for Covid-19 with screening in Japan starting soon after landing at the airport.

The Tokyo Olympics, the most-tested event in recent times, reported only 163 Covid-19 positive cases from the 6,76,789 screening tests conducted from July 1 till August 8, the day the Olympics were officially declared closed. This gives a positivity rate of 0.02 percent, according to data released by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In the 42,861 Covid-19 tests conducted for Games participants, only 37 were confirmed positives, which gives a less than 0.09 percent positivity rate.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were held from July 23 to August 8.