Tokyo Olympics likely to be held without spectators after rise in COVID-19 cases

Tokyo Olympics is likely to be held without spectators due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, a government official said on Wednesday, July 7 as reported by ANI. As per sources, Japan can declare another COVID-19 state of emergency for Tokyo, possibly until August 22 and with the Olympics scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8, it seems as though there might not be any fans in the stadiums. The athletes' village for the Tokyo Olympics pre-opened on Wednesday, mainly for officials of team delegations.

There is a general concern amongst the people that the influx of tens of thousands of people from around the world could unleash another wave of infections. Events at large venues and night events after 9 p.m. would also be held without spectators, while the number of VIPs such as sponsors' guests and diplomats at the opening ceremony would be reduced sharply from an initial estimate of about 10,000.

No spectators, less risky

The organisers have already banned spectators from overseas and set a cap on domestic spectators at 10,000 per venue for the games, or 50% of the capacity, despite medical experts' view that no spectators would be the least risky option. Only those officials are allowed who are in-charge of making preparations to welcome their team athletes at the Games. Earlier it was said that the organisers of the Tokyo Olympics were leaning towards cutting the number of spectators to a maximum of 5,000.

As per sources, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday did not say whether the spectator capacity would be cut short and he said that it was an issue to be addressed by the five organising bodies of the Summer Games, including the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo metropolitan government. On Wednesday, the Tokyo metropolitan government had reported 920 new COVID-19 cases, marking the highest daily figures since mid-May. The Tokyo Games had to be rescheduled from last year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and is scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8 this year.

(Image Credits: Tokyo2020/Twitter)