SBJ reporter Chris Smith is in Tokyo to cover the Olympics. He will be filing reports throughout his time there. Here is his latest dispatch.
TOKYO -- In Tokyo, sanitation is the name of the game. Boarding a bus to the Main Press Center? Not until you use the provided hand sanitizer. Entering a security checkpoint? Only after volunteers watch you sanitize. Trying to order lunch at the food court? You guessed it -- more hand sanitizer. There are pump bottles as far as the eye can see, and the Main Press Center has a dedicated staff continually wiping down any surface not actively in use. All this even though we have known for months that surfaces are not a significant vector of COVID transmission.
That is not the only countermeasure with questionable effect. Seating areas are usually divided by plexiglass barriers, though not always effectively; in the MPC, there are shields on the sides of each workstation, but nothing to separate reporters working face-to-face. Temperature scans are used at checkpoints, even though studies have suggested they are ineffective at identifying infected individuals. Only today were bathroom hand dryers turned back on after days of patrons being forced to use their pants.
Team USA’s medical chief says there is no harm in those measures, especially since they are just a portion of Tokyo’s overall COVID strategy, which also includes mask mandates and regular testing. “There are some methods that are more effective than others, but that does not mean that those that are less effective should be thrown out,” said USOPC Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Finnoff. “Overall, I’ve been very happy with all of the different measures they put into place.”
Tokyo’s preventative measures appear to be effective so far. The latest update from organizers is that there have been 110 total COVID cases at the Games, including 54 of around 32,000 total foreign visitors.
Read all of Chris Smith's reports from Tokyo.
Scenes from the ground in Tokyo
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Hand sanitizer stations are seemingly everywhere in Tokyo, in and around Olympic venues
Photo: Chris Smith, SBJ 
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Exterior view of Tokyo's Olympic Stadium hours before the Opening Ceremony began
Photo: Chris Smith, SBJ 
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Interior view of Olympic Stadium before Tokyo Games Opening Ceremony
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