Toyota won\u2019t advertise for the Games in Japan, while more and more athletes test positive for the virus as Tokyo cases rise.<\/b>
\nAs detractors warned, the pandemic is roiling the Olympic Games in Tokyo before they are slated to begin at the end of the week. Tokyo is in a state of emergency and recording its highest daily numbers of new COVID-19 infections in six months. Though spectators have been barred from the rescheduled 2020 Summer Games, many in Japan have opposed the country\u2019s decision to proceed with the Olympics, as have public-health experts across the globe. On Tuesday, Toshiro Muto, the head of the Olympics organizing committee, did not rule out the possibility of canceling the event altogether. \u201cWe can\u2019t predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases,\u201d he said. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases.\u201d On Monday, the country\u2019s largest automaker, Toyota, announced that it will not run any television ads in Japan related to the Olympics and that company executives will not attend this week\u2019s opening ceremony \u2014 a clear attempt to distance itself from the increasingly controversial event. The same day, news broke that an alternate on the U.S. women\u2019s gymnastics team had tested positive for COVID-19 just four days before the Games are set to begin. On Monday, U.S. officials said the gymnast tested positive on Sunday while training in Narita, which is about 35 miles east of Tokyo. The gymnast and another alternate on the team are now quarantining, NBC News reports. \u201cOut of respect for the individual\u2019s privacy, we cannot provide more information at this time,\u201d the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement. NPR reports that it is unclear how much contact they had with the team\u2019s six primary members. The gymnast is the first member of Team USA known to have tested positive after arriving in Japan, but there have been at least a dozen new cases linked to the Games since Sunday. Two athletes and at least one other person inside Toyko\u2019s closed-off athletes\u2019 village tested positive this weekend. It\u2019s not clear if the cases are the result of the virus spreading inside the Olympic Village, but the news underlines fears that many athletes will have their Olympic dreams derailed by COVID infections and precautions during the mid-pandemic Games. All told,25 new COVID cases were detected among athletes and other people associated with the Games over the weekend, according to Olympics organizers, but two South African soccer players, the country\u2019s Olympic Committee confirmed Sunday, were the first two athletes inside the Olympic Village to test positive for the coronavirus. Olympics officials said that another athlete had tested positive Sunday, but outside the Olympic Village. On Saturday, officials announced the first case inside the isolated area, an Olympics organizer visiting from abroad. The Olympic Village, which is located on Tokyo Bay, will house some 11,000 people for the duration of the Games. American tennis player Coco Gauff announced Sunday that she had tested positive for COVID and would not be able to play in the Games. Coco Gauff has tested positive for Covid-19 and won’t compete at the Olympics. Yikes. https:\/\/t.co\/gK3TR4X6cy Two other members of South Africa\u2019s Olympics contingent have also tested positive in Japan: a video analyst for the soccer team, who tested positive upon arrival in Tokyo, and the country\u2019s head rugby-sevens coach, who is with that team training in another city in the country. All who test positive for COVID at the Olympics must go into isolation for 14 days. Contact tracing is being implemented, as well as are a host of safety measures and restrictions. The rest of South Africa\u2019s soccer team quarantined Sunday while awaiting results of additional tests. Sunday also brought news that eight members of Team Great Britain in Yokohama, including six athletes, had been ordered to self-isolate because they had been in close contact with someone who tested positive on Friday. They will all need to test negative twice over 48 hours before being allowed to leave isolation and rejoin their teams. South Africa\u2019s soccer team is scheduled to play Japan on Thursday. IOC officials have insisted they will create a COVID-safe (not COVID-free) Games. Embattled IOC president Thomas Bach claimed last week that the Summer Olympics would be \u201cthe most restrictive sports event ever in the world\u201d and that \u201cthe risk for the other residents of the Olympic Village and risk for the Japanese people is zero.\u201d As of Sunday, at least 55 people associated with the Olympics have tested positive this month, according to the International Olympic Committee, but that doesn\u2019t include people at training camps. Reuters is tracking all the known cases here.<\/p>\n