By Hanna Park
Five people from the Czech delegation at the Tokyo Olympics, including three athletes, have tested positive for COVID-19 after a flight to Japan might have contributed to the spread, USA Today reported Thursday.
An investigation into the flight was launched by the Chairman of the Czech Olympic Committee Jiří Kejval on whether lax regulations and behavior last week contributed to the spate of cases.
The probe will examine "whether all precautions against the spread of COVID-19 before, during and after the charter flight have been complied with,” per a news release. The results will be published within 14 days, the country’s Olympic Committee said.
The Czech News Agency reported that 42 people, including 14 athletes, were aboard the flight in question, and that not all of the passengers wore masks during the flight.
The Czech athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 were beach volleyball players Ondřej Perušič and Nausch Sluková and table tennis player Pavel Širuček. The athletes are currently in isolation as of Thursday.
The two other cases are the delegation’s doctor Vlastimil Voráček and beach volleyball coach Simon Nausch. The delegation’s doctor was unvaccinated and the first person to test positive for the virus.
"Everywhere we convince people to be vaccinated. And here the doctor of our delegation is not vaccinated," said Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
The news comes as dozens of positive cases have been reported among Olympic athletes and staff as the Tokyo games are set to begin on Friday.
The U.S. had its first Olympian pull out of the games due to the virus this past week.