2020 Tokyo Olympics Set To Take Place With No Spectators

Japan has declared another state of emergency in Tokyo leading to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announcing the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be held with no spectators.

Japan declared the state of emergency for the capital due to rising COVID-19 cases, only a few weeks after the Olympic host country eased restrictions.

Tokyo reported 896 new cases on Thursday when the announcement was made with 920 new cases reported the day earlier.

Director of the Disease Control and Prevention Center at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Norio Ohmagari, said: “The virus is undoubtedly rebounding.”

“If foot traffic continues to increase and the delta variant is allowed to spread further, Tokyo could see an explosive increase in new cases,” he said.

The state of emergency will go into effect this coming Monday and will at least last until August 22nd.

Tokyo will be in a state of emergency during the Olympics as it will take place from July 23rd to August 8th.

However, there is a chance the city will be out of lockdown for the Paralympics which is set to take place from August 24th to September 5th.

President of the Tokyo Olympics organising committee, Seiko Hashimoto, expressed his disappointment from the announcement.

“It is extremely regrettable that the games will be staged in a very limited manner in the face of the spread of novel coronavirus infections,” Hashimoto said.

“I am very sorry for ticket holders and local residents who were looking forward to the games,” he said.

Members of the IOC and officials from the Japanese and Tokyo governments agreed on the barring of spectators following the state of emergency announcement.

Japanese citizens had already expressed concerns for The Games taking place with open petitions calling for the 2020 Olympics to be cancelled.