In effort to curb COVID, Tokyo Olympics collect lots of spit

TOKYO (AP) — About 30,000 people are spitting into tiny plastic vials every day at the Tokyo Olympics in a routine that’s grown crucial in going ahead with the pandemic-era Games. The half a million saliva samples during the two-week Games are collected at the Village and other venues in an aggressive effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections. In contrast, such tests have long been hard to find for the general Japanese public. Some medical experts have expressed worries about the Olympics turning into a “super-spreader” event. Daily coronavirus cases surged in Tokyo to a daily record, topping 3,000 people, this week.