Cancelling Olympics remains an option, says Japan ruling party official (updated)
15/04/2021 04:10
(Adds details of prepartions, request for comment)
TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - A senior Japanese ruling party
official said cancelling this year's Olympic Games is an option
if the coronavirus crisis becomes too dire, Kyodo news agency
reported on Thursday, less than 100 days from the planned start
of the Games.
If rising coronavirus cases means "it is said to be
impossible we would have to give up," Toshihiro Nikai, secretary
general of the Liberal Democratic Party, said in comments in a
television interview, Kyodo reported.
Japan is grappling with rising coronavirus infections, with
numbers trending higher in Tokyo after the government ended a
state of emergency, and Osaka suffering a record number of
cases.
The government is pushing ahead with preparations
incorporating social distancing measures and restrictions on
spectators for the Games set to begin on July 23.
Polls indicate little support in Japan for holding the Games
during a global pandemic. "Canceling Olympics" was trending on
Twitter in Japan on Thursday with more than 20,000 tweets from
users.
Olympic organisers did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Mari Saito;
editing by Stephen Coates & Simon Cameron-Moore)
((sam.nussey@tr.com; https://twitter.com/SamNusseyRTRS;
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