Japan's Abe urges 2-week curbs on sports events as coronavirus looms over Olympics (updated)

Mitsubishi Estate

26/02/2020 04:49

* At least 164 confirmed virus cases apart from liner; 5
dead
    * 'Large transmission risk', next 2 weeks extremely
important -PM 
    * Abe's call also covers cultural events, large gatherings 
    * Baseball games behind closed doors; sumo tournament in
doubt
    * 2 news cases reported at central Tokyo businesses

 (Recasts with Abe call for event curbs, Olympic minister
comments, confirmed cases at businesses)
    By Sakura Murakami and Rocky Swift
    TOKYO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
on Wednesday called for sports and cultural events to be
scrapped or curtailed for two weeks as the country battles to
stem coronavirus contagion amid mounting concerns the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics could be cancelled.
    Abe's call came after a Tokyo baseball team said it would
play games in an empty stadium this weekend, while two
businesses in central Tokyo reported confirmed cases of
infection a day after the government urged companies to
recommend staff consider working from home. 
    "Taking into account that the next one to two weeks are
extremely important in stopping the spread of infection, the
government considers there to be a large risk of transmission at
sports, cultural events and large gatherings of people," Abe
said in parliament.
    Japan has at least 164 cases of infections from the flu-like
coronavirus, apart from 691 reported from a cruise ship docked
south of Tokyo. The government has shifted strategy in fighting
the contagion, seeking to slow its expansion and minimise the
number of deaths - now five - rather than stopping it
completely, now seen as impossible.
    Earlier on Wednesday the minister in charge of the Olympics
sought to quell fears the Olympics could be cancelled.
    International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound said
earlier the Games would more likely be cancelled than postponed
or moved should the virus threat enforce any change in schedule,
the Associated Press reported, with a decision necessary by May.
    "The IOC is preparing for the Tokyo Games as scheduled,"
Minister Seiko Hashimoto said in parliament when asked about
Pound's comment. "We will continue our preparations so that the
IOC can make sound decisions."  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2AP1WL
    In a briefing with reporters, Japan's Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yoshihide Suga said he had been told by the IOC that
Pound's comment that any cancellation decision would be made in
May was not the IOC's official stance.
    Officials have consistently denied the Olympics will be
postponed or cancelled. But Tokyo has been forced to postpone
training for volunteers, with large scale gatherings like
March's Tokyo Marathon already voluntarily curtailed or halted
altogether.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2AM009
    Meanwhile the Yomiuri Giants baseball said on its website it
would stage planned preseason games versus cross-town rival the
Yakult Swallows at its Tokyo Dome stadium, but with no fans in
the building.
    Separately the national sumo association told Reuters a
board meeting would be held on March 1 to discuss whether to
proceed with its spring tournament, due to start in Osaka on
March 8. Japan's professional soccer league has already called
off all domestic games through the first half of March. 
    The growing shadow over the Olympics came as Dentsu Group
Inc  4324.T , an advertising giant deeply involved in the Games,
told employees to work at home after a confirmed coronavirus
case at its central Tokyo headquarters. Its shares in slid to a
seven-year low amid the concerns about the Games.
    In another confirmed case, property developer Mitsubishi
Estate Co  8802.T  said one of its skyscrapers in the Marunouchi
business district had been visited by a person with the virus.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AQ01S      

 (Reporting by Sakura Murakami and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing
by Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((rocky.swift@thomsonreuters.com;))