The Tokyo Olympics should go ahead as planned from July 23, despite the declaration of a state of emergency for a period of one month in the greater Tokyo region due to new coronavirus contaminations.
A further postponement is out of the question, according to the organizers.
The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics insisted on Friday that the Olympics postponed due to coronavirus would go ahead as planned next summer despite the declaration of a state of emergency by the Japanese government.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday announced that the month-long state of emergency would cover the greater Tokyo area from Friday as Japan faces a sharp resurgence of the pandemic.
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"Safe Games"
Tokyo-2020 officials have repeatedly said that a further postponement of the Games, which are due to start on July 23, is out of the question.
And they insisted on Friday that the state of emergency would not derail plans.
"This declaration of emergency provides an opportunity to bring the Covid-19 situation under control and to ensure that Tokyo-2020 plans a safe Games this summer, we will make the necessary preparations accordingly," the organizers said in a statement. .
Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday that Japan is committed to hosting a "safe" Olympics and is confident that public opinion will change its mind when Japan starts the vaccinations, scheduled for late February.
Dick Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee, was quoted Thursday by the
BBC
as having said he could not "be certain" that the Games would go as planned because of the unknown on the "surges" of contamination.