Tokyo (AFP)

A visit to Japan this month by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, has been postponed due to the resurgence of the Covid-2019 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee said on Monday. .

Mr. Bach's trip was scheduled for May 17 and 18, said the organizers who "decided to postpone it due to various situations, including the extension of the state of emergency linked to the virus" by the Japanese government.

The Olympic Games are due to open in 74 days (July 23-August 8).

The state of emergency, which is less strict in Japan than the lockdowns imposed in other countries around the world, has been extended until May 31 in the departments of the country most affected by the pandemic, including that of Tokyo.

According to Japanese media, the organizers of the Olympics are planning to reschedule Bach's visit in June.

Seiko Hashimoto, the president of Tokyo-2020, had already warned on Friday that it would be "very difficult" to organize a visit in May by the IOC president given the extension of the state of emergency.

The health crisis in Japan has been much less virulent so far than in many other countries, with around 10,800 officially recorded deaths since early 2020.

But the national vaccination program is progressing very slowly, and some Japanese departments have recorded record levels of Covid-19 infections in recent weeks, the spread of variants worsening the situation.

The Japanese government and the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics insist that the event, postponed for a year to 2020 because of the virus, can still take place "safely" this summer.

But all polls for months have shown that most Japanese people are in favor of a cancellation or a new postponement.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga found himself on the defensive on Monday, insisting in parliament that he "never put the Olympics first" and that his priority was "the life and health of the Japanese ".

© 2021 AFP