Less than three weeks before the Olympic Games, Japan’s capital declares a state of emergency. It is set to be declared in Tokyo, the Japanese government has decided, amid a rise in Covid-19 cases.
- The declaration will be applied in the Tokyo area from July 12 to August 22, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on Wednesday.
- Suga said the number of people in Tokyo infected with coronavirus is on the rise, and the emergency measures less strict than a full lockdown should help to control the spread of the virus and alleviate the pressure on hospitals already struggling to provide enough beds. The PM told reporters he would “take all possible measures” to prevent the further spread of the virus.
- The state of emergency has also been extended to Okinawa Prefecture, while quasi-emergency measures for Osaka, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa prefectures will also be extended until August 22. A formal decision on Tokyo’s state of emergency will be announced on Thursday after a meeting of health experts.
- Quite a few media outlets reported on Wednesday that the Olympics was likely to go ahead without spectators, although Suga’s announcement did not confirm this.
- Olympics organizers have already imposed strict limits on the Games, including banning overseas spectators and limiting the number of fans to 10,000 or half of each venue’s capacity. Some of the 11,000 athletes from the 200 Olympic participating nations have already started arriving in Japan.
Tokyo is set to host the Olympic Games from July 23 until August 8. It will happen a year later than originally planned due to a postponement caused by the pandemic.
