Brian McCloskey, Chair of the Tokyo 2020 Independent Expert Panel, noted during a press briefing at the end of the Games that the concluded Olympics has proved that WHO advice is right in a 'historic way'.
"Since the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has emphasised that the way out of the pandemic is through applying public health and social measures, such as social distancing, wearing masks and hand hygiene," McCloskey said as per Olympics.com.
He continued, "Backing this up by an effective and comprehensive test, track and trace programme. This has been the view of the WHO since the beginning."
"What Tokyo 2020 has just done in a historic way is show that the WHO advice is right. By following basic public health measures, and by layering a testing programme on top, we have shown that it is possible to keep a pandemic at bay."
One of the most comprehensive screening testing initiatives in history, implemented by Tokyo 2020, carried out 651,296 tests from July 1 to August 7. The local health authorities conducted another 42,711 tests at Tokyo's main airports. The final updates will come in the next few days.
The cumulative positivity rate among Games participants from July 1 to the end of the Games was 0.02 per cent. At the airport, the COVID-19 early detection system worked as planned, with a positivity rate of just 0.09 per cent.
The COVID-19 countermeasures were based on the extensive work of the All Partners Task Force and collaboration with scientific experts and organisations from across the world, including the WHO.
( With inputs from ANI )
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