Tokyo Olympics Changes 10,000 Spectator Limit To 0 Watchers As Japan Declares COVID-19 State Emergency
Tokyo Olympics organizers recently announced that the spectator limitation for the upcoming sports fest is 10,000. Now, they were forced to remove all the participants after Japan announced that the Asian country is under the COVID-19 state of emergency.
The Olympic Rings logo is pictured in front of the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne on March 18, 2020, as doubts increase over whether Tokyo can safely host the summer Games amid the spread of the COVID-19.
The event's update was announced on Thursday, July 8, after infected cases rose in the country's capital. Tokyo Olympics 2020 was already delayed because of the arrival of the novel coronavirus, which affected even the first world countries.
Because of this, Japan was forced to move the sports fest's schedule this coming July 23 until August 8. On the other hand, the Paralympics is expected to take place on August 24, as reported by Fox News.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said that the event's organizers already showed their handling when it comes to a natural crisis, which was shown during the first postponement of Tokyo Olympics 2020.
"And we will also show it today, and we will support any measure which is necessary to have a safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games for the Japanese people and all the participants," he added.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 President Apologizes
According to NBC News' latest report, Seiko Hashimoto, the president of Tokyo Olympics 2020, already showed her regret regarding the banning of spectators because of the rising COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
A man wearing a face mask, amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, stands before the Olympic rings from an observation point in Tokyo's Odaiba district on March 25, 2020, the day after the historic decision to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
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"It is regrettable that we are delivering the Games in a very limited format, facing the spread of coronavirus infections. I am sorry to those who purchased tickets and everyone in local areas," she added.
This is not the first time the most-awaited sports fest removed its spectators. Recently, Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa said organizers had agreed to hold the Games without spectators in Tokyo. They already banned international fans and made a domestic watcher limitation of 10,000 individuals.
Aside from this, the management also advised spectators to clap instead of cheering or singing since researchers previously claimed that the novel coronavirus is transmittable via saliva.
COVID-19 Delta Is Already In Japan
The decision of Tokyo Olympics organizers seems to be quite understandable, especially since new variants of COVID-19 are on the rise. One of these is the new Delta strain, which CDC claims to be the most dominant amongst other novel coronaviruses.
As of the moment, Business Standard reported that Japan already has 15 cases of the new COVID-19 Delta variant. Aside from this country, Russia, India, Canada, Turkey, and the United States are also affected.
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This article has been published on Latin Post
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