Japan leans toward keeping the Games with local spectators: Reports
09 June, 2021
Japan is leaning towards allowing household spectators in the Tokyo Olympics despite the COVID-19 pandemic, press reported on Wednesday (Jun 9), with organisers planning to monitor the motions of foreign mass media to prevent pass on of the virus.
More Japanese federal government officials and 2020 Tokyo Olympics organisers are towards holding the Games with domestic spectators as COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out and case amounts decline, the Asahi newspaper reported, without citing sources.
This is in contrast with their position in regards to a month ago when there was an atmosphere among Primary Minister Yoshihide Suga's administration that the Games, starting Jul 23, would have to be held without spectators, the report said.
THE SUMMERTIME Games has seen strong opposition from the general public and medical professionals over concerns the event could result in more infections and overload medical facilities, despite assurances from Suga's administration that the Games could be held safely.
Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto on Tuesday stated that overseas media will be closely monitored to ensure they don't leave pre-registered areas in an effort to ease public concerns.
Overseas media will be monitored via GPS and can not be permitted to go to the houses of localized friends or various other unregistered areas, Hashimoto added, based on the Asahi and other native media.
Organisers will finalise strategies for spectators before the end of this month after consulting with the Japanese government, along with the Tokyo administration, media quoted Hashimoto as telling.
Foreign spectators are already prohibited from the Olympics and Japanese may also be kept from what organisers promise is a sanitised "bubble" event to minimise contagion risk.
The Olympics have been postponed by a year amid concerns over how organisers can keep volunteers, athletes, officials and japan public safe throughout a fourth COVID-19 wave.
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