Asked in regards to the anti-Games marketing campaign, Tokyo Governor Koike mentioned she would proceed to work in the direction of a “safe and secure” Olympics.
“Though there is a global pandemic, it is important to hold safe and secure Tokyo 2020 Games,” she informed an everyday press convention.
The new areas below the state of emergency embrace Hokkaido prefecture the place the Olympic marathon will happen, after the prefecture reported a file excessive of 712 new coronavirus instances on Thursday.
Opposition to the Games has additionally come from docs, whereas some high-profile Japanese athletes have expressed concern, together with Masters golf champion Hideki Matsuyama and prime ladies’s tennis participant Naomi Osaka.
Japanese enterprise chief Masayoshi Son, chief of SoftBank Group Corp, added his voice to the refrain of trepidation on Thursday, saying in unusually blunt remarks that he was “afraid” of what would possibly occur if the Games went forward on schedule.
Dozens of cities that had been as a consequence of host visiting athletes at pre-Games occasions have cancelled these plans, saying they might not assure medical assist amid strains on the hospital system.
With the newest emergency measures, 19 out of Japan’s 47 prefectures fall below restrictions that embrace closures of eateries by 8 p.m. and a ban on alcohol at bars and eating places.
Nationwide, Japan has seen about 656,000 confirmed coronavirus instances up to now, with 11,161 deaths.
Paralympics chief Andrew Parsons mentioned the possibilities of athletes spreading coronavirus are “really remote” as he tried to douse Japanese “anger” over the Tokyo Games. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president mentioned stringent virus countermeasures will maintain athletes and the Japanese public secure.
Parsons was talking simply over 100 days earlier than the Paralympics opens on August 24, and with 10 weeks to go earlier than the Olympics begin on July 23. As the Games method, Japan is battling a fourth virus wave and public opinion stays firmly against internet hosting them this summer time.
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