Tokyo Olympics: Coronavirus countermeasures for 2021 games to cost $960 million

Tokyo Games organisers have estimated the cost of coronavirus countermeasures for 2021 rearranged Olympics to be around $960 million, according to Kyodo News. Previously, the Japanese media outlet had reported that the total costs of delaying the Games for a year would run to 200 billion yen. However, spokesman for organisers said that an announcement would be made on an interim report following talks between Tokyo 2020, Tokyo metropolitan government and the Japanese government on December 2. 

Back in December 2019, the organisers had said that the official budget set for the Games was $12.6 billion, but the budget was given by the organising committee before the Games were postponed due to the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic. Now, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that they expect to pay $800 million in additional costs from the delay. The Tokyo 2020 organising committee is expected to officially announce an adjusted budget before the end of the year. 

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Tokyo Olympics set to open on July 23, 2021

Meanwhile, last week, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike remains firm about being able to safely hold the Olympics next year despite growing concerns about Japan’s recent resurgence of COVID-19 infections. In recent months, Japan has experienced an uptick of the infections with a nationwide total exceeding 2,000 as the government tried to balance preventive measures and business activity without further hurting the pandemic-hit economy. However, Koike said that as the host city, she is determined to achieve the games. 

Her comments came after IOC President Thomas Bach’s visit to Tokyo, where he held a series of talks with Japanese Olympic officials, including Koike, to showcase their determination to pull off the games. Bach said that participants and athletes would be encouraged to get vaccinated in order to protect the Japanese public, but it is still unclear how that would be addressed if cases surge in the host country. Tokyo organising committee CEO Toshiro Muto earlier this month also confirmed for the first time that a limited number of non-Japanese fans may be allowed to attend the event. 

He said that next year’s Tokyo Olympics will be like no other, particularly for foreigners if they are allowed to enter in the middle of the pandemic. Organizers and the IOC have given themselves at least five more months to start finalizing how they will pull off the Olympics for 11,000 athletes and tens of thousands of officials, judges, sponsors, media and broadcasters. It was in early spring this year that the Games were postponed, however, they are now set to open on July 23, 2021. 

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