Olympic-bound Indian Contingent To Have COVID Tests For Seven Days Prior To Departure To Tokyo

The COVID-19 tests of all members of the Indian contingent for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics will be conducted by SRL Diagnostics, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said on Monday. (More Sports News)

The SRL Diagnostics was on Monday chosen as the 'Lab Diagnostics Partner' of the IOA for the Tokyo Games and 2024 Olympics.

IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta told PTI that all the Olympics-bound athletes and officials can now have RT-PCR tests for seven days prior to their departure for Tokyo at SRL Diagnostics laboratories across the country free of cost.

"SRL Diagnostics will be IOA's Lab partner till 2024 Olympics. So, all the athletes and officials for Tokyo Olympics will do RT-PCR tests for seven days in this laboratory," Mehta said.

"They have branches all over the country and the athletes and the officials can have the tests at any branch. This will be free of cost and the laboratory has given this as complimentary as our partner."

The Tokyo Games organisers have imposed stricter regulations on the Indians by clubbing the country with Afghanistan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in group 1 with serious COVID-19 situation.

The Indian contingent departing for Tokyo will have to upload its health status for each of the seven days prior to departure on the Organising Committee health app along with negative RT-PCR reports from approved labs, 96 and 72 hours prior to the journey.

In the letter appointing SRL Diagnostics as its Lab Partner, IOA wrote: "We are pleased to accept your offer to join with IOA and as discussed and confirmed you may provide services to Indian athletes and officials attending the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics.

"For the athletes: all types of lab diagnostics and test services free of cost, once their qualification for the Olympics is confirmed," Mehta wrote in a letter to SRL Diagnostics.

"For the officials: all types of lab diagnostics and test services as per the charges fixed by the government on confirmation of the IOA."

More then 100 athletes have so far qualified for the Tokyo Olympics and the number is likely to touch 120 when the qualification deadline ends in a few days in some sports. The IOA had said that India is likely to send a contingent of around 190 members to Tokyo.