Two employees of Tokyo Olympic organizers positive for COVID

A man wearing a mask against the spread of the new coronavirus walks at the Olympic rings in front of the New National Stadium Wednesday, July 22, 2020, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

TOKYO–Two employees of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Saturday.

That brings to three the number of employees of the committee who have tested positive since the pandemic began.

Organizers said a man and a woman had tested positive but gave few details. They said the man was in his 20s and the woman in her 30s, and that both were now working from home rather than at the headquarters located near Tokyo Bay.

Many of the organizing committee’s employees have been working remotely though some have returned to office work in the last few months.

The organizing committee has a staff of 3,500.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been put back to July 23, 2021 due to the pandemic. The original closing ceremony was to have been Sunday, Aug. 9.

Japan has reported just over 1,000 deaths from COVID-19. Like the country, Tokyo has been largely spared, though new cases have been rising for the last few weeks with officials urging people not to travel and to stay away from bars and restaurants.