Just two weeks before the start of the Summer Olympics, officials in Japan have decided spectators will not be allowed at any of the venues as fears of a new coronavirus outbreak increase.
On Thursday, Japan declared a state of emergency in Tokyo, host city for the games that had already been delayed one year because of the pandemic.
“It is regrettable that we are delivering the Games in a very limited format, facing the spread of coronavirus infections,” Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said, according to Reuters. “I am sorry for those who purchased tickets.”
Japan has had about 810,000 cases and just under 15,000 deaths due to COVID, but the numbers have been on the rise in recent weeks due mainly to the Delta variant.
“We absolutely must avoid Tokyo being the starting point again of another spread of the infection,” said Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at a news conference.
On Wednesday, there were 2,180 new cases reported in the country, including 920 in Tokyo, its highest number in months. Even without the Olympics, Yuki Furuse, a Kyoto University professor, projects that number could rise to 1,000 this month and 2,000 in August.
The vaccine rollout in Japan has been slow, with only about 15 percent of the country fully vaccinated and less than 25 percent of the country having received at least the first shot.
“We have shown this responsibility since the day of the postponement,” International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said, according to The Hill. “And we will also show it today, and we will support any measure which is necessary to have a safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games for the Japanese people and all the participants.”
The announcement came the day before the final leg of the Olympic torch relay was set to begin. That, too, has been altered to eliminate any actual running with the torch and replaced with a series of ceremonies closed to the public.
“The infections are in their expansion phase, and everyone in this country must firmly understand the seriousness of it,” Dr. Shigeru Omi, a government medical advisor, told the Associated Press.
Olympic officials are now scrambling to determine what the games will actually look like, considering there will be no fans for traditional events like the opening and closing ceremonies, let alone at any actual competition.
For many in Japan, the banning of spectators does not go far enough. A survey by The Asahi Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper, showed 83 percent of residents wanted the games postponed again or scrapped completely.
The games are scheduled to begin July 23 and run through August 8.
