Torch relay organizers emphasize crowd control amid infection surge

People across Japan have been flocking to get a glimpse of the Olympic flame during the torch relay, and large crowds have been seen in some areas. But with coronavirus cases surging all over the country, local governments involved with the relay are nervous about pandemic measures.

A crowd of about 250 spectators gathered in front of the Tochigi prefectural government building on March 29 was told to stand a safe distance apart. But when professional basketball player Yuta Tabuse appeared with the torch, spectators surged forward.

“We were ready to call it off,” said a senior official of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The committee has said it will consider canceling legs if there are so many spectators that people are standing shoulder to shoulder and if crowds do not observe social distancing when warnings are issued.

However, when many spectators gathered to watch a celebrity torchbearer on March 28 in front of Ashikaga city hall, also in Tochigi Prefecture, the committee concluded that there were too many people there, but did not cancel the leg. There were no reports of excessive crowding on the next stops of the torch relay in Gunma and Nagano prefectures.

The organizing committee, with the cooperation of the prefectural governments and other organizations, is monitoring roadside areas from a helicopter to check spectator numbers.

Crowds tend to form when the torchbearers are famous athletes or celebrities. As part of safety measures, such participants have been completing their legs in stadiums and other venues where the number of attendees can be controlled, but people have been gathering outside of these venues.

To prevent crowds from forming during the relay leg in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, local authorities closed a lane in one direction along the route so that spectators could watch the runners in the opposite lane.

When actor Keita Machida ran in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, no spectators were allowed along the roadside, but local authorities let people watch from a nearby parking lot that faced the route. The few hundred spectators that turned up were socially distanced and rope barriers were used to prevent people from surging forward.

Spectators were banned from the torch arrival ceremony and some sections of the route on Thursday in the city of Nagano, where coronavirus cases have been rising.

The torch relay leg in Osaka was scheduled to take place on April 14 but the prefecture is expected to notify the organizing committee that the event will be canceled due to the implementation of tougher coronavirus measures in the city from Monday.

When the relay arrives in Nagoya on Monday, one lane will be used as a viewing area and guards will be positioned at regular intervals. (April 4)

The Yomiuri Shimbun Professional basketball player Yuta Tabuse carries the Olympic torch in Utsunomiya on March 29.