The Japanese government and International
Olympic Committee (IOC) decided in March to postpone the
Olympics by a year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The
global sports showpiece is now slated to start in less than 200
days and run from July 23 to Aug. 8.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga reiterated on Thursday
his intention to hold the Games.
However, a December poll by public broadcaster NHK showed a
third of Japanese residents want the Games to be scrapped due to
fears an influx of foreign arrivals may cause a further spike in
COVID-19 cases. In the same poll, 31% of respondents favoured
another delay, while only 27% said the Olympics should go ahead
as scheduled.
"I think it's difficult. It's impossible to hold the Olympics,"
said 75-year-old Tatsuhiko Akamasu, who was visiting Tokyo on
Friday from nearby Saitama.
"It's only two and a half months until the torch relay. I don't
think we can get the virus under control during this period."
The 121-day torch relay, which normally heralds the countdown to
the Olympic Games, will begin in Fukushima on March 25, an
anticipated date as it was shortly before the event was due to
start last year that the postponement decision was made.
"I think it is more likely that we won't hold the Olympics, and
I would rather the government make the decision at some point to
cancel it," said 74-year-old Hisashi Miyabe.
Over 15,000 athletes from across the world are expected to
descend on Tokyo for the Games, leading to concerns they may
bring new mutations of the virus to Japan.
"I think the interaction between people will cause further
spread of the coronavirus, and it is more likely that the virus
may mutate if the infection numbers are increasing. I feel that
is a bit scary," said 23-year-old student Yuki Furusho.
(Reporting by Irene Wang; Writing by Jack Tarrant; Editing by
Karishma Singh)
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