Japan will continue with preparation for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as scheduled and will go ahead with the torch relay from Fukushima later this month, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2020) Japan will continue with preparation for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as scheduled and will go ahead with the torch relay from Fukushima later this month, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday.
"We will continue to work closely with the IOC [International Olympic Committee], the organizing committee and the Tokyo metropolitan government to steadily proceed with the events as scheduled. We intend to hold the games as they have always taken place," Suga said at a news conference in Tokyo, broadcast by the NHK.
Suga added that world leaders had approved the decision.
The number of coronavirus cases has exceeded 800 in Japan � excluding those infected on the Diamond Princess cruise liner � and 182,000 globally, throwing into question Tokyo's hosting of the event, which is scheduled to take place from late July to August.
Earlier this month, the IOC canceled the lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece due to the coronavirus pandemic.
