Story at a glance
- Olympic organizers said Monday that the venues will host up to 10,000 domestic spectators — 50 percent capacity — when the delayed global sporting event begins July 23.
- But Olympic Organizing Committee chair Seiko Hashimoto maintained that the decision could change should COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations rise.
- “If there should be a major change in the sanitary situation or infection situation, we need to revisit this matter among ourselves, and we may need to consider the option of having no spectators in the venues,” Hashimoto continued.
Olympic organizers said Monday that the venues will host up to 10,000 domestic spectators — 50 percent capacity — when the delayed global sporting event begins July 23.
But Olympic Organizing Committee chair Seiko Hashimoto maintained that the decision could change should COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations rise, The Associated Press reported.
“We need to be very flexible. If there is any abrupt change in the situation, we will hold five-party meetings again to make other decisions,” Hashimoto said. “If there is an announcement of a state of emergency during the games, all the options like no-spectator games will be examined.”
“If there should be a major change in the sanitary situation, or infection situation, we need to revisit this matter among ourselves and we may need to consider the option of having no spectators in the venues,” Hashimoto continued.
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Yet fans will be given strict guidelines — like no cheering — and are to head home immediately following their attendance, according to AP.
Tokyo Olympics CEO Toshiro Muto said that around 3.6 million tickets had already been distributed in Japan, but capacity limits could cut seat availability by around 900,000.
The official decision follows months of debate over public health concerns, with members of the medical community raising the specter of a potential outbreak. Shigeru Omi, the top medical adviser to the Japanese government, recommended the games proceed without fans.
Meanwhile, the head of the Japan Doctors Union, Naoto Ueyama, said in late May the organizers could not “deny the possibility of even a new strain of the virus potentially emerging.”
“If such a situation were to arise, it could even mean a Tokyo Olympic strain of the virus being named in this way, which would be a huge tragedy and something which would be the target of criticism, even for 100 years,” Ueyama said.
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