2020 Tokyo Olympic torch relay to go on with coronavirus precautions

Tokyo Olympic organisers are pushing ahead with the Japanese leg of the torch relay despite the threat of the spreading coronavirus. Organising committee CEO Toshiro Muto said Tuesday that crowds will be allowed to gather on the roadside to watch the relay, but asked for restraint and warned the relay could be stopped or delayed in case of overcrowding.

The Olympic flame will arrive in Japan on Friday from Greece and will be carried throughout the country for four months until the planned opening of the Tokyo Olympics on July 24 at the national stadium.

The first leg begins in northern Fukushima prefecture, which was devastated in 2011 by an earthquake, tsunami and the meltdown of three nuclear reactors.