The pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics will now take place under a coronavirus state of emergency, according to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshide Suga today, and the Tokyo venues will no longer have spectators.
The decision to ban spectators comes as Japan lags behind Western countries in rolling out vaccines. Only 15% of its population are fully vaccinated, compared to 47% in the United States and nearly 50% in the UK, according to CNN's global vaccine tracker.
The Olympics, which are about two weeks away, will begin on July 23 and end on Aug. 8. The state of emergency — the fourth in the Japanese capital since the pandemic began — will cover the entire period of the Games.
But this is not the first change the 16-day event has undergone leading up to its start date.
Last month, organizers said spectators would be allowed at the Olympics with a 50% venue capacity or a maximum of 10,000 people per venue. Organizers had already decided to ban overseas fans from the stands in March.
In March 2020, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed until 2021. The International Olympic Committee had faced pressure to delay the Games in light of Covid-19. The original event was supposed to take place from July 24 to Aug. 9, 2020.
Source: CNN