Holding an Olympics during a pandemic was never going to be easy, and the Tokyo Organizing Committee consulted with numerous public health experts and invested in tracking app systems to help curb the spread of the virus within the Olympic community.

But despite these strict countermeasures, an imperfect system and practical issues in compelling thousands of people from around to world to comply with often intense and inconvenient protocols are already leading to lapses that are opening the door for SARS-CoV-2, and in particular its Delta variants, to spark new infections that could quickly flare up into clusters of cases.

For example, while the media in Tokyo are under strict testing, contract tracing and bubble measures, and are required to wear masks, there are situations that are providing potential fertile ground for the virus to spread. For the first 14 days after Olympic visitors, including athletes and journalists, arrive Tokyo, they are not allowed to take public transportation or walk in the city. But they are assigned to hotels in the city, at which non-Olympic guests are also staying. That means their rooms may be cleaned and they may be served in restaurants by Tokyo residents, who, given the low vaccination rate so far, are more than likely not immunized against COVID-19.