Otago Daily Times

Decision on spectators attending Games expected by March

OLYMPICS

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TOKYO: Organisers of the postponed Tokyo Olympics should decide next month or in or March whether the Covid19 risks have fallen enough to let spectators attend the Games in July, the head of the organising committee said yesterday.

The Japanese Government and the Internatio­nal Olympic Committee made the decision last March to postpone the 2020 Olympics until July 2021 because of the pandemic.

Organisers have stressed they are determined to press ahead with the Games this year, even as Covid cases surge, and the Government announced plans to widen a state of emergency to stem the spread of the virus.

So far, no decision has been made whether spectators will be allowed into venues during the Games and ticket holders who no longer wish to attend have already applied for refunds.

‘‘I think we will have to make a very difficult decision around February to March,’’ Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee President Yoshiro Mori said.

Daily virus cases in Japan hit a record 7882 last Friday, for a tally of nearly 300,000, public broadcaste­r NHK said.

Senior Internatio­nal Olympics Committee member Dick Pound said last week athletes should be given priority access to vaccines so that the Games can go ahead on July 23 .

During his visit to Tokyo in November, IOC President Thomas Bach said athletes would be encouraged to take the vaccine but it would not be mandatory.

Two academics warned against pinning hopes on vaccinatio­ns for those taking part.

‘‘Trying to say . . . that we need to provide these athletes with vaccines because these [Games] are a part of our heritage and our national pride is going to be a tough sell,’’ infectious diseases expert at the University of Manitoba, Jason Kindrachuk, told Reuters.

‘‘Especially when you have a vaccine rollout programme that hasn’t been working very well, you are going to have some people who are frankly quite angry and unhappy about that idea.’’

Ken Ishii, a vaccinatio­n expert at the University of Tokyo, said it would be dangerous to use the Games as an excuse for a faster vaccine rollout.

Ishii said a rushed vaccine rollout could fail to spot potentiall­y dangerous sideeffect­s and might leave athletes vulnerable.

A poll conducted by Kyodo found 80% of those surveyed think the Games should either be postponed again or cancelled.

However, Mori said it was ‘‘absolutely impossible’’ to cancel the Games again, largely because the organising committee would not be able to keep its staff for another year.

 ??  ?? Yoshiro Mori
Yoshiro Mori

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