No ‘Plan B’ for Olympics amid virus concerns

TOKYO — Tokyo Olympic organizers and the International Olympic Committee said Friday there is no “Plan B” for the 2020 Games, which open in just over five months and have been jolted by the outbreak of a virus in neighboring China.

The coronavirus has infected 66,492 people and caused 1,523 deaths in China but only one in Japan, where fear is rising with so much attention focused on the outbreak.

“Certainly, the advice we’re received externally from the [World Health Organization] is that there’s no case for any contingency plans or canceling the games or moving the games,” John Coates, the head of an IOC inspection team, said to wrap up a two-day visit that was dominated by the virus issue.

Mr. Coates and Tokyo Olympic organizers took 11 questions at a news conference Friday. All 11 were about the virus, or the presence of Chinese athletes in 19 remaining test events in Japan, or about Chinese fans, or repeated questions seeking reassurance the games will go ahead as planned.

A reporter asked Tokyo organizing committee President Yoshiro Mori if, given the fact the games are going ahead, there would be any “organizational changes” in how the games are run.

“No, at this stage, no. We are not thinking of any such possibility,” said Mr. Mori, a former Japanese prime minister.

Mr. Mori, Mr. Coates and CEO Toshiro Muto looked glum sitting at a head table taking essentially the same question over and over.

“We can confirm that Tokyo 2020 remains on track,” Mr. Coates said in his opening statement.

Mr. Coates was asked by a CNN reporter if he was 100% confident that the Tokyo Olympics would go on as scheduled and open July 24. “Yes,” he replied.

Mr. Coates talked positively about keeping a close watch on Chinese athletes and talked optimistically about their eventual presence in Tokyo, where they would probably field a team of 600 athletes — one of the largest delegations.

“We continue also to monitor, particularly the Chinese that will be coming here,” he said. “You’ll find that the Chinese teams are mostly out of China. That’s the athletes and officials.”

He didn’t offer any specific numbers.

Others away from the Olympic circle are uncertain what course the virus outbreak will take.

“Frankly speaking, there is no guarantee that the outbreak will come to an end before the Olympics because we have no scientific basis to be able to say that,” said Shigeru Omi, a former regional director of the WHO and an infectious disease expert.

“So it is meaningless to predict a timing when it may come to an end,” he added. “We should assume that the virus has already been spreading in Japan. People should understand that we cannot only rely on border controls to prevent the spread of the disease.”