About 80 percent of the medical staff considered necessary for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games has been effectively secured, organizing committee President Seiko Hashimoto said Friday.

The committee estimates that 230 doctors and 310 nurses would be necessary to run the games per day, Hashimoto told a news conference after her organization’s meeting with the International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission for the Tokyo Games.

The total number of medical staff members necessary during the Olympics and Paralympics would be about 30 percent less than the initially expected 10,000, Hashimoto also said, adding that the number may change further depending on whether to accept spectators.

The Tokyo Games committee forecasts that up to 50,000 to 60,000 coronavirus tests will be conducted on athletes and other people related to the sporting events per day, she said.

All these tests will be commissioned to the private sector, she continued.

The number of games-related people visiting Japan other than athletes is put at 59,000 for the Olympics and 19,000 for the Paralympics, according to Hashimoto.

The total would be 78,000, down sharply from some 180,000 expected before both games were put off from summer last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

JIJI Press