With just two weeks to go for the Tokyo Olympic Games to kick off, the Japanese Government has declared a State of emergency in Tokyo amid a surge in Covid cases in the capital.
The Tokyo Olympic Games are set to open on July 23 despite local opposition.
The government decided to put Tokyo under another state of emergency until August 22, amid rising concern the games could trigger a further surge in infections.
“Taking into consideration the effect of coronavirus variants and not to let the infections spread again to the rest of the nation, we need to strengthen our countermeasures. Given the situation, we will issue a state of emergency for Tokyo,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced at a news conference Thursday.
Later, Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa told the media that the Games will be held without spectators at venues in Tokyo due to a spike in COVID cases.
The organizers had earlier planned to stage the Olympics in front of a limited number of fans, confining the spectator cap to 5,000 per venue.
Spectators from overseas were already barred from attending Olympic Games.
More than 900 new infections were reported in Tokyo on Wednesday, registering the highest daily count since mid-May.
The biggest sports event on earth is scheduled to be held in Tokyo from July 23 to August 8.
The Olympic Games were originally scheduled to take place last year, but was delayed by a year due to the pandemic. But it will still being called “Tokyo 2020”.
There are a few events kicking off a few days ahead of the Opening Ceremony, on July 21.
The games will see a whopping 339 events unfold across 33 sports.
A number of sports and events will take place at venues outside the Japanese capital.
Competition is due to take place across 41 different venues, including the Japan National Stadium, Tokyo Stadium and the Yokohama Stadium.
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