Olympic Games to be held without spectators with the declaration of a state of emergency

Olympic organizers decided to ban spectators from attending the Tokyo Olympics after the Japanese Prime Minister declared a state of emergency in the host city.

The news was confirmed by Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa, after talks between the government, organizers and Olympic and Paralympic representatives – although it left out the possibility that some venues outside Tokyo still had fans.

«The venues in Tokyo will not include spectators,» Marukawa said. «For those areas where the state of emergency does not apply…we will discuss.»

The widely expected move is the latest blow to the restive Olympic Games, which have been postponed for a year by the pandemic and plagued by a series of setbacks, including huge budget overruns.

But Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said it was necessary to prevent Tokyo from becoming a source of another wave of infection, especially with the spread of the highly contagious Delta virus COVID-19.

The fourth state of emergency begins in Tokyo on Monday – 11 days before the games open – and will end on August 22, two days before the start of the Paralympic Games.

Tokyo recorded 920 new infections on Wednesday. This compared to 714 last Wednesday and is the highest total since the 1,010 reported on May 13. It announced 896 new cases on Thursday.

“Taking into account the impact of coronavirus variables and the need to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of the nation again, we need to strengthen our countermeasures,” Suga said. «Given the situation, we will issue a state of emergency for Tokyo.»

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