Japan Considers Ban On All Olympic Spectators
Japan is considering banning all spectators from the Olympic Games, as officials weigh extending COVID-19 restrictions to contain infections just over two weeks before the Games begin.
Medical experts have said for weeks that having no spectators at the Olympics would be the least risky option amid widespread public concern about the risk the Games will fuel new surges of infections.
Organisers have already banned overseas spectators and set a cap on domestic spectators at 50% of capacity, up to 10,000 people, to contain a lingering coronavirus outbreaks.
Officials have been wrestling with the question for months but a ruling party setback in a Tokyo assembly election on Sunday, which some allies of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga attributed to public anger over the Games, had forced their thinking, sources said.
“Politically speaking, having no spectators is now unavoidable,” a ruling party source said.
Japan will hold a general election later this year and the government’s insistence that the Games – postponed last year as the virus was spreading around the world – should go ahead this year could cost it at the ballot box.
The Tokyo 2020 organising committee said restrictions on spectators would be based on the content of Japan’s coronavirus state of emergency, or other relevant measures.
Japan has not experienced the kind of explosive COVID-19 outbreaks seen elsewhere but has seen more than 800,000 cases and 14,800 deaths. The capital, Tokyo, reported 920 new daily cases on Wednesday, the highest since May 13.
A slow rollout has meant only a quarter of its population has had at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot.
Preparations for the Games have been shrouded in concerns about the impact of COVID-19 as authorities have struggled to stamp out persistent clusters of infections, particularly in and around Tokyo.
On Thursday, the government is likely to extend restrictions in Tokyo and three nearby prefectures beyond an original end-date of July 11, government sources have said.
Kyodo News reported the extension would likely last a month, meaning the curbs will be in place throughout the Olympics, which begin on July 23 and close on August 8.
Chidi Nwoke/Reuters.
