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Tokyo (dpa) - The Olympic city of Tokyo is to be placed under a state of emergency three months before the summer games due to the sharp rise in infections.

The government wants to put the emergency for Tokyo as well as Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefecture into effect from Sunday to May 11th, reported Japanese media.

A decision should be made on Friday.

During this period, the so-called “Golden Week” falls, a series of national holidays during which millions of Japanese people normally travel.

Shortly before the planned Olympic Games, Japan has imposed a state of emergency on Tokyo for the third time.

The reason is the rapid spread of new virus variants.

"This measure would correspond to the very careful approach of the Japanese authorities," said Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, on Wednesday in anticipation of the decision.

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Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games and Paralympics in the summer.

The games had been postponed for a year due to the corona crisis.

Japan has come through the pandemic much better than many other countries.

But now the infections are increasing again significantly due to new variants.

The measures taken so far have not been enough, said Governor Yuriko Koike.

However, the state of emergency in Japan is not a lockdown. Tokyo, which reported 861 new infections within 24 hours on Thursday, plans to request department stores, theme parks, bars and other businesses to temporarily close, according to media reports. Spectators could also be banned from certain events. Experts warn that new virus variants could lead to a further sharp increase in infections in the next few weeks. Japan's vaccination campaign has been slow since the beginning of February.

Japan's Olympic organizers are still sticking to the plans in Tokyo.

In view of the rising corona infections, they want to wait longer than planned before deciding whether to allow domestic viewers to attend.

A decision could possibly only be made in June, organizational chief Seiko Hashimoto confirmed the day before.

"I think we need a little more time to make an accurate judgment," said Hashimoto.

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Actually, the question should be decided this month.

Foreign fans and the families of international athletes had previously excluded Japan's Olympic makers.

Because of the corona pandemic, doubts remain about holding the summer games.

In Japan, a clear majority recently voted in favor of relocating or canceling the games.

However, IOC boss Bach again assured that Tokyo was “still the best-prepared Olympic host so far”.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210422-99-310626 / 3

Communication from the IOC

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