July 08, (THEWILL) – In a widely expected move, organisers of the Summer Olympics have decided to ban spectators from the Games in Tokyo after Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s Prime Minister declared a state of emergency in the host city itself.
Tamayo Marukawa, the Olympic Minister, confirmed the ban following talks between the government, organisers and Olympic and paralympic representatives. The possibility for some venues outside of Tokyo to accept some fans was left open.
Marukawa made this clear by saying: “Venues in Tokyo will not include spectators,” said Marukawa. “For those areas where the state of emergency is not implemented … we will discuss.”
It is the latest in a series of COVID-19 enforced blows to befall the beleaguered Olympics. After being delayed by a year at great cost to those involved, it is now being plagued by a series of setbacks, including massive budget overruns and local opposition.
In Suga’s conception, it was essential to prevent Tokyo from becoming the source of another wave of infections, especially with the highly infectious Delta COVID-19 variant spreading across borders and keeping Japan’s slow vaccine rollout in mind.
What it means in terms of precise dates is that Tokyo’s fourth state of emergency begins on Monday – 11 days before the Games open – and will end on 22 August, two days before the start of the Paralympics Games.
It was necessitated by continued infection rates in Tokyo. Japan’s capital city reported 920 new infections on Wednesday. That compares with 714 last Wednesday and is the highest total since 1,010 were reported on 13 May. It announced 896 new cases on Thursday as well.
Suga said: “Taking into consideration the effect of coronavirus variants and the need to prevent infections from spreading to the rest of the nation again, we need to strengthen our countermeasures.
“Given the situation, we will issue a state of emergency for Tokyo.”
Earlier measures have not had the intended outcomes. Targeting Tokyo’s night-time economy for weeks with quasi-emergency restrictions have failed to prevent the latest wave of cases. The government will reimpose an unpopular ban on serving alcohol at bars and restaurants, which will also have to close early to force a flattening of the spike.
For long, medical advisers have said that having no spectators at the Games would be the least risky option, amid public concern that the arrival of tens of thousands of athletes, officials, sponsors reports and support staff could trigger a new wave of infections and introduce worse variants into the country.
As THEWILL reported, Japan banned overseas sports fans and the Olympic movement was pinning its hopes on a limited number of Japanese spectators creating a semblance of the jolly atmosphere of a sports spectacle the Olympics are famous for.
However, with the opening ceremony just two weeks away, it is looking more likely that competitions will take place in empty venues, including the opening ceremony at the new $1.4 billion national stadium. IOC officials and sponsors, however, could attend in their role as “organisers,” media reports have said.
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