Olympic torch (Photo Credit: Twitter)
The Japanese metropolis of Matsuyama cancelled the Olympic torch relay attributable to a spike in coronavirus instances.
- AFP
- Last Updated:April 14, 2021, 12:28 IST
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A western Japanese metropolis cancelled the Tokyo Olympics torch relay over spiking coronavirus instances on Wednesday, the second space to scrap the occasion because the clock ticks right down to the postponed Games.
The choice comes 100 days earlier than the 2020 Olympics start and accompanies recent considerations in regards to the viability of the occasion, with virus instances surging in Japan and overseas.
“We will cancel the torch relay in Matsuyama city. We will hold the celebration for the arrival of the flame in a way that will not involve ordinary spectators,” mentioned Tokihiro Nakamura, governor of Ehime prefecture.
Emergency medical companies within the area are “under extreme pressure” as Covid-19 instances rise, Nakamura mentioned.
He mentioned the choice has been accepted by the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, which didn’t instantly remark.
The torch relay kicked off on March 25 in Fukushima and was purported to undergo Matsuyama — the hometown of golf hero Hideki Matsuyama — on April 21.
It was barred from public roads within the Osaka area this week, with torchbearers as an alternative operating in a closed park in entrance of a restricted variety of household and associates.
The ongoing pandemic is taking part in havoc with preparations for the Olympics and fuelling uncertainty about whether or not the massive occasion can, or ought to, happen.
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