Read more from Author Melissa Galbraith here: https://globelivemedia.com/author/melissa-galbraith/
The Government of Japan has begun to consider the possibility of organizing the Tokyo Games without an audience due to the pandemic, an option that until now had not wanted to contemplate, according to local media published this Friday.
This measure would have been put on the table with a view to guaranteeing that the Games go ahead next summer despite both Japan and other countries record record numbers of infections, according to government sources told the local Kyodo agency.
Till the date, both the Japanese Executive and the organizers have expressed their intention to hold the Games “completely” or with the presence of the public in the stands, although with some type of restrictions aimed at preventing infections.
The Government now contemplates the three options to open the stadiums without restrictions, set an entry cap of 50% of the total capacity or that the competitions be held behind closed doors, among which it will be decided as the pandemic evolves, detail the aforementioned sources.
These plans of the Japanese authorities come to light the same day that The Executive has emphatically denied an information published yesterday by the British newspaper The Times, according to which the Government would have already considered the holding of the Games this summer impossible.
The hosts plan to make a decision in the coming months about the presence of the public in the stands and whether and to what extent it will be allowed. the arrival of foreign visitors to Japan for the Games.
The Asian country has kept its borders closed since the end of last December to prevent the spread of new strains of the coronavirus, While Tokyo and other major regions of the country have been under a state of health emergency since the beginning of the month due to the record increase in infections.
This exceptional measure entails, among other restrictions, establish a limit for the presence of spectators at mass events.
The president of the Japan Medical Association, Toshio Nakagawa, said this Friday in an appearance before the media that “it will be difficult” for the country to allow the entry of foreign visitors due to the risk that this will put additional pressure on the Japanese health system, currently at the limit of its capacity.
On the eve, the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, noted the need to “be flexible” and to be willing to “make sacrifices” to ensure the safety of participants. at the Games, when asked about the presence of the public in the stands during an interview with Kyodo.