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Tokyo Olympics may be CANCELLED as Japan faces devastating Covid fourth wave, MP claims
TOKYO Olympics may be CANCELLED as Japan faces a devastating Covid fourth wave, an MP has claimed.
Organisers were warned that the games could be called off amid surging infections and at the very least faced radical changes.
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Toshihiro Nikai, the secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, spoke out just a day after Tokyo reached the 100-days-to-go mark on Wednesday.
Asked by reporters if a cancellation was still an option, he said: "Of course."
But he also added: "It is important for Japan to have a successful Olympics. It is a big opportunity. I want to make it a success.
"We will have many issues to resolve and prepare, and it is important to take care of them one by one."
Covid cases have been surging across the nation.
On Wednesday, Japan's second-largest metropolitan area of Osaka recorded over 1,100 new infections, its highest total since January.
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Taro Kono, the government minister in charge of Japan's vaccine rollout, said even if the Olympics go on, there may be no fans of any kind in the venues.
He said it's likely that the Olympics will have to held in empty venues, particularly as cases surge across the country.
This means only television cameras and photographers will be around to record the action, joined by some reporters, judges and match officials.
The delayed 2020 Olympics are to open in just over three months on July 23, the Paralympics open on Aug. 24.
Fans from abroad have already been banned. Now even Japanese spectators could be kept away as virus cases surge across the country.
Japan was among the last major countries to begin Covid vaccinations when it started in mid-February.
The country is currently dependent on Pfizer’s vaccine, as it’s the only Covid jab that has been approved by domestic regulators.
Only 1.1 million people in Japan, mostly frontline healthcare workers, have received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine so far.
However, Kono dismissed rumours that that this would be enough to the see the event cancelled.
Instead, he conceded that they would have to be held under "certain conditions"
“I think the question is how to do the Olympics in a way that is possible in this situation," Kono said during a television talk show on Thursday.
“That may mean there will probably be no spectators,” he added.
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Tokyo organizers have said they expect to announce a decision this month on the number of fans allowed into each venue.
Organizers had expected to receive about $800 million from ticket sales, their third-largest source of income.
Any shortfall will have to be made up by those in the Japanese government, who are already footing most of the bills.
The official cost for the Olympics is $15.4 billion, but several government audits have suggested it might be closer to twice that amount.
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