The Olympic flame arrived in Tokyo yesterday with just two weeks until the Olympic Games open, as athletes and fans mourned a “heartbreaking” decision to bar spectators from almost all venues due to COVID-19 concerns.
In a taste of what is to come for thousands of athletes who will compete at the pandemic-postponed Games, the public was kept away from the arrival of the flame and a welcoming ceremony was attended only by media and officials.
Tokyo is to be under a COVID-19 state of emergency from tomorrow until Aug. 22, putting a further dampener on an already unusual Olympics.
Photo: AFP
The measures, which mostly limit alcohol sales, restaurant opening hours and crowd sizes, come as infections rise in the capital and with authorities concerned about the spread of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Given the decision, organizers on Thursday said that they would bar spectators from venues in Tokyo and three surrounding areas, where most competition would be held.
It is a reversal from a decision last month to limit the number of spectators at either 10,000 or 50 percent of venue capacity, whichever is smaller.
Arrangements on how to deal with the already sold tickets would be decided later, the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said.
The organizers “decided to take a stricter approach than other sporting events because the popularity of the Olympics would mean there will be more flow of people,” Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee chief executive Toshiro Muto said at a news briefing.
More than half of the Games’ 43 venues, including the National Stadium with a capacity of 68,000, which is set to host the opening ceremony on July 23, are in Tokyo.
Organizers had over the past month said that a no-spectator scenario was possible, following an announcement in March that fans from overseas would not be allowed to attend the competitions.
The International Olympic Committee said that it supports the decision.
However, the committees expresses deep “regret for the athletes and for the spectators that this measure had to be put in place,” it said.
Daily COVID-19 cases have been rising in Tokyo since a state of emergency ended last month, with confirmed infections on Wednesday hitting the highest since the middle of May.
Concerns over the pace of Japan’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout, which has been picking up from a slow start, have increased as the nation faces distribution issues.
While opposition to the Games has over the past few weeks slightly eased, a poll conducted by the Asahi Shimbun showed that 64 percent of respondents preferred to hold the Games without spectators, while 30 percent said they wanted limited numbers.
Even with few spectators and the exclusion of foreign fans, a large number of people are still expected to converge on Tokyo from more than 200 countries.
Organizers said that about 53,000 officials and others, excluding athletes, are expected to attend from overseas.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday said that it would be “an unusual way of staging the event amid a state of emergency.”
Billions of people were expected to watch it on television, he said, adding: “I want to show from Tokyo that the human race can overcome great difficulty through hard work and wisdom.”
The return to a state of emergency represents a political setback for Suga, who has resisted canceling the Games despite opposition from much of the Japanese public.
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