TOKYO • The head of the organising committee for the Tokyo Olympics yesterday did not rule out a last-minute cancellation of the global sporting showpiece, amid rising coronavirus cases that have presented the organisers with mounting challenges.
Asked at a news conference if the Games, which are due to open on Friday, might still be cancelled, Toshiro Muto said he would keep an eye on infection numbers and hold discussions with organisers if necessary.
"We can't predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases," he said.
"We have agreed that based on the coronavirus situation, we will convene five-party talks again. At this point, the coronavirus cases may rise or fall, so we will think about what we should do when the situation arises."
But with thousands of athletes, officials and journalists already in Japan, including those from Singapore, it remains to be seen whether his remarks are a case of political posturing.
Muto, a former top financial bureaucrat with close ties to Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is known for his careful choice of words.
Organisers, including the government, are facing a domestic public angry about Covid-19 restrictions and concerned over a possible spike in cases triggered by Games attendees arriving from abroad.
On Sunday, Games officials reported the first coronavirus case among competitors in the Olympic Village, where 11,000 athletes are expected to stay. Yesterday, the first case of a Games volunteer testing positive for the virus was reported, along with seven more contractors, taking the total number of infected personnel to 71.
Muto's caution contrasts sharply with the views of International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, who addressed the IOC session in Tokyo the same day and insisted that "cancellation was never an option for us".
"The IOC never abandons the athletes... we did it for the athletes," the 67-year-old German said, though he also admitted the unprecedented step of postponing the Games by a year had proved more complicated than he thought and that he had had "doubts" and "sleepless nights".
Olympic and Japanese officials have staunchly defended the Games, which are being held in a strict biosecure "bubble" with daily testing. Eighty per cent of athletes at the Games have been vaccinated.
Japan earlier this month decided that participants would compete in empty venues to minimise the risk of further infections.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), whose head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will address IOC members in Tokyo today, has been advising the Japanese organisers and the IOC on health measures to be taken by participants and at venues during the July 23-Aug 8 event.
Still, a prominent public health expert continued to cast doubt on the safety measures yesterday.
Kenji Shibuya, former director of the Institute for Population Health at King's College London, said that the organisers' bubble system was already "kind of broken".
Continual reports of cases that went undetected at the airport, along with videos showing interaction between athletes, staff and journalists, add to concerns that airborne transmission will occur within the village and venues, he added.
In another blow to the slimmed-down Games, the opening ceremony on Friday will also take place without major Olympic sponsors.
Multinational companies Panasonic as well as Fujitsu and NEC will skip the event, while Toyota dropped all its television advertisements linked to the Games on Monday.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
