The Tokyo 2020 organizers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on Wednesday released the first playbook that pushed forward counter COVID-19 measures to be observed for the postponed Olympic Games to be safe and successful.

According to the organizers, the playbook published on Wednesday is the first of a series which aims at International Federations (IFs) and technical officials. Playbooks for the athletes, media and broadcasters will be published in the coming days.

"The Playbooks were created from the perspective of the participants themselves, based on the interim summary that was published at the Coordination Meeting for COVID-19 Countermeasures last December," introduced Tokyo 2020 Games Delivery Officer Hidemasa Nakamura on a press conference.

As the playbook specifies, IF personnels are asked to observe and report on an official smartphone application their health conditions 14 days prior to their departure for Japan, for which a negative COVID-19 test result in 72 hours is required. After their arrival, their mobility in the first 14 days are restricted to games venues and an additional shortlist of places, yet to be confirmed, with all travels reported to the Japanese authorities. People receive positive results, either at the airport or during the Games, will be isolated or hospitalized according to the situation.

Other principles including social distancing, avoiding crowds and enclosed spaces, and no public transportation unless permitted are also written in the document.

"We know these Olympic Games will be different in a number of ways. For all Games participants, there will be some conditions and constraints that will require flexibility and understanding. We are providing the main directions at this stage, but naturally don't have all the final details yet," said Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi via a video link.

"To ensure safe and successful Games this summer, every single stakeholder involved in, or attending the Games has a key role to play," chief Brand and Communication officer of the IPC Craig Spence said.

When asked about how violations will be punished, Dubi noted that the discussion is still "down the road".

"Those playbooks are designed to be followed. The rules are really simple for everyone to be safe, and it's in the interest of everyone to be safe. So we don't anticipate too many cases of breaches," he said. "However, if that do happen, let's be sure there will be a procedure in place."

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday extended the state of emergency in place for Tokyo and other regions hard hit by the novel coronavirus by one month until March 7. Starting from January 7, the state of emergency has been successful to some degree, with Tokyo reporting 393 coronavirus cases on Monday, the lowest in more than a month.

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