Let the games go ahead, says WHO boss

TOKYO. – The Tokyo Olympics should go ahead to demonstrate to the world what can be achieved with the right plan and measures amid the COVID- 19 pandemic, World Health Organisation ( WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday.

Speaking to the International Olympic Committee members at their session in the Japanese capital, Tedros said the world needed the Olympics now “as a celebration of hope”.

“The Olympics have the power to bring the world together, to inspire, to show what’s possible,” he said.

“May the rays of hope from this land illuminate a new dawn for a healthy, safer and fairer world,” he added, holding aloft an Olympic Games torch. “It is my sincere hope the Tokyo Games succeed.”

The Tokyo Games start on July 23 amid questions over their safety, with tens of thousands of foreigners arriving.

Japan, with about 34 per cent of the population having had at least one dose of the vaccine, has been concerned the Olympics could become a superspreader event. – Reuters