The Tokyo Olympics would be held without spectators amidst the state of emergency which was imposed to curb the the spread of rising COVID-19 cases
Currently, Japan is under a state of emergency and it has been decided that no spectators would be allowed in any of the games venues in the city due to rapid increase in COVID-19 cases.
No spectators allowed in Tokyo Olympics
During a recent interview with Kyodo news, Tamayo Marukawa, who is the Olympic minister said, “The country has been put under a state of emergency and spectators aren’t allowed at any of the games venues due to the rising cases.”
Tokyo to undergo fourth lockdown
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshishude Suga had announced on Thursday to put Tokyo under the fourth phase of lockdown, especially during the period of Olympic games in order to curb the spread of the rising COVID-19 cases.
The marquee event got postponed last year due to the pandemic and are slated to begin this year on July 23. The lockdown will begin from July 12 and will continue till August 22. While speaking to Kyodo news, Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is the minister in charge of the country’s Covid-19 response, said, “The lockdown was announced to restrict the movement of people as this is the time of summer break and the Bon holidays. We are also hopeful that the vaccination process speeds up.”
Why was the COVID state of emergency declared?
The Kyodo news reported that the government earlier wanted to keep the city under a quasi-state of emergency, but later changed the decision when the cases began to increase.
Tokyo, on Wednesday alone, reported a total of 920 new COVID-19 cases, which was also the highest daily count since mid-May.
What was decided in the meeting?
Thomas Bach, who is the chief of the International Olympic Committee held a meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
The meeting was held with concerned members of the Japanese bodies. The objective of the meeting was to come up with plans for a new crowd policy in the stadiums. Initially, the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics decided to reduce the number of spectators to just 5,000.
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