Japan’s Olympics minister announced that Summer Olympics events in the Tokyo area will be now be held without spectators after Japan declared a state of emergency in the capital due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.
This announcement comes as yet another blow to the already drastically scaled-down Olympic Games.
The original plan was to allow venues to be filled up to 50% capacity, with a maximum of 10,000 regional spectators and no overseas fans. The recent surge in COVID-19 cases and the low rate of vaccinations forced organizers to reconsider.
“Taking into consideration the impact of the Delta strain, and in order to prevent the resurgence of infections from spreading across the country, we need to step up virus prevention measures,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said.
Tokyo’s fourth coronavirus state of emergency will run from Monday, July 12 until Aug. 22, just as the Tokyo games begin on July 23rd.
