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JAPAN will declare a Tokyo state of emergency until August 22 to stem a new wave of coronavirus infections, a top minister said.
With this state of emergency, Olympic organizers are considering banning all spectators from coming directly to watch the multi-event sports event which will begin in the next two weeks.
The government’s medical adviser has been saying for weeks that the Olympics without spectators would be the least risky option amid widespread public concern that the arrival of thousands of athletes and officials would trigger a new wave of infections.
Organizers have banned overseas viewers and for now capped domestic viewers at 50 percent of capacity, to 10,000 people. Talks to resolve audience restrictions are expected this Thursday or Friday.
The talks will be led by International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, who arrived in Tokyo on Thursday to oversee the final stages of preparations.
Japan’s economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who heads the government’s response to the coronavirus, said the state of emergency in Tokyo would begin on July 12, after new daily infections rose to 920 on Wednesday, the highest level since mid-May.
The Tokyo area is currently under somewhat less stringent “quasi-emergency” restrictions. Under the tightened restrictions, restaurants will be required to stop serving alcohol, Nishimura said.
The move is expected to be formally declared on Thursday and followed by a press conference by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Neighboring Tokyo, where a number of Olympic events will also take place, such as Chiba and Kanagawa, will remain under a “quasi-emergency” until Aug. 22. The Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8.
Until this week, officials had insisted they could hold the Games safely with a large audience, but the ruling party’s setback in Sunday’s Tokyo assembly elections, which some of Suga’s allies attribute to public anger over the Games, has forced a change of tactics, sources said.
Japan will hold parliamentary elections later this year and the government’s insistence that the Olympics – which were postponed last year due to the worldwide spread of the coronavirus – should take place this year could hurt the ballot box, they said. [antaranews]
