TOKYO: Olympic delegations from Pakistan and five South Asian neighbors will be vaccinated before the Tokyo Games, organizers said Friday, as concern rises over the risks of coronavirus variants spreading at the event.
The move affects delegations coming from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal, Tokyo 2020 and the International Olympic Committee said.
The six countries are all subject to Japan's highest level border restrictions, in part because of concern about the so-called Indian variant of the virus.
The IOC said national Olympic committees from the six countries had also agreed to conduct additional testing of delegation members, beyond the two tests within 96 hours of travel to Japan already required under current rules.
Details of the additional testing were not specified.
Tokyo 2020 organizers declined to say whether media and other participants coming from the six countries would have to be vaccinated to enter Japan, saying it was still consulting with the local government.
The IOC has said it expects up to 80 percent of those staying in the Olympic village during the Games to be vaccinated by the time they arrive in Japan.
But organizers are facing strong domestic opposition in Japan to hosting the Games this summer, with most backing further postponement or outright cancellation.
Japan is currently battling a fourth wave of virus infections and the government is extending a state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions until June 20, just over a month before the Games.
South Asian Olympic delegations, including Pakistan, to be vaccinated before Tokyo games
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South Asian Olympic delegations, including Pakistan, to be vaccinated before Tokyo games
- Japan has already subjected South Asian nations, including Pakistan, to strict border restrictions due to the Indian variant of the coronavirus
- Organizers of the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 games are facing strong criticism for not postponing or canceling the event
PIA denies social media claim its entire flight crew went missing abroad
- Airline says the allegation emerged from ‘anti-Pakistan quarters’ to defame both the national carrier
- Some social media posts recently said a PIA flight crew had gone missing during a layover in Toronto
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Sunday dismissed as “fake news” a social media claim that the entire crew of one of its flights had disappeared overseas, saying the post was circulated to defame both the national carrier and the country.
The statement came after social media posts said a PIA flight crew had gone missing during a layover in Toronto, Canada.
Previously, there have been reports that individual crew members have used layovers to remain abroad, often linked by analysts to economic conditions at home and perceived asylum opportunities under Canada’s immigration policies. However, PIA has adopted measures such as holding passports with station managers and assigning older crew to Canada routes to curb the trend.
“A tweet, circulated by certain anti-Pakistan quarters, claiming that the whole crew of a particular #PIA flight is missing, is entirely baseless,” the airline announced in a post on X, adding that the purpose of the message “seems to malign PIA and #Pakistan.”
“There has been no such incident, and the news is fake,” it said.
According to local media reports, the information had been circulated by an “Afghan and anti-Pakistan account.”
“The misleading tweet is part of a well-conceived plan based on hostility toward Pakistan and is aimed at damaging the reputation of the national airline and the country,” Pakistan’s English-language broadsheet, Dawn, quoted the airline spokesperson as saying.
Pakistan has been striving to privatize PIA along with other state-owned enterprises under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan program.
The airline was banned from operating in Britain and Europe, though those restrictions have been removed more recently.
