Tokyo Olympics to be held without spectators amid COVID spike
Japan's Minister for the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Tamayo Marukawa, announced on Thursday, stating that the games will mostly happen behind closed doors as a resurgent COVID wave forced Japan to declare a state of emergency.
TOKYO:
Amid the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in Japan, the Japanese government has announced that the Tokyo Olympics slated to begin from July 23 will take place without spectators.
It will be the first time in history that the Olympic games will not see any crowds cheering for their favourite athletes.
Japan's Minister for the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Tamayo Marukawa, announced on Thursday, stating that the games will mostly happen behind closed doors as a resurgent COVID wave forced Japan to declare a state of emergency.
Marukawa said that the decision to hold the Olympics without any spectators in the stadium was reached after talks with local and national government officials, organisers and other stakeholders.
Most of the events will take place in Tokyo, however, for games outside Tokyo, the committee will decide on "concrete measures" for spectators after discussions with each local governor.
The torch relay traversing the country have also been held behind closed doors because of virus concerns, stated the organising committee.
The decision of holding the games without spectators was arrived at after the Japanese government declared that the country will be under the state of emergency from July 12.
(Edited by Shankar Kumar Turha)
ALSO READ: Mary Kom, Manpreet Singh named as flag-bearers for Indian Contingent at Tokyo Olympics
TNT-The Northeast Today is now on WhatsApp: CLICK HERE to receive more updates on your phone.
