International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates said the Summer Olympics will continue even if Tokyo remains in a state of emergency.
Japan’s capital is one of nine prefectures under a state of emergency until May 31 at the earliest due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was filed due to the high number of cases that have since started to go down.
“We have successfully seen five sports hold their pilot events during an emergency,” Coates said.
“All the plans that we have put in place to protect the safety and security of athletes and the people of Japan are based on the worst possible conditions, so the answer is [to whether the Games could take place during a state of emergency] Yes sure.
“The advice that we got from the World Health Organization and all the scientific advice, is that all the measures that we have defined in the game manual, all these measures are satisfactory to ensure safe and secure games in terms of health, and this is whether there is an emergency or not.”
Recent polls in Japan Shown approximately 70% of the population We don’t want the Olympics, which begin on July 23, to continue.
Japan has long insisted that there is no doubt that the Games, which were supposed to take place last summer, will be staged and will be safe.
When asked about negative polls, Coates added: “There may be a correlation between some of these percentages and the low rates so far of people in Japan who have been vaccinated.
“I expect that with the increase in the number of vaccines, there will be better polls and better public opinion, but if not, then we just have to make sure that we continue our work and our job is to make sure that the games are safe for all participants and all the people of Japan.”
The British Olympic Association has confirmed that all British athletes and support staff will be fully vaccinated before heading to Tokyo.
“The UK government has confirmed that, through an agreement between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Pfizer BioNtech, the athletes, GB team, ParalympicsGB and support staff will be fully vaccinated ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games. In having to travel to Japan to practice their work.
“The agreement means that the vaccines will be obtained directly from Pfizer, and will not affect the current supplies to the British public.”
analyzing
Robert Wingfield Hayes Tokyo correspondent
It seems clear from John Coates that any cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics will not come from the International Olympic Committee.
Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency due to the spike in COVID-19 cases. The Japanese government has begun vaccinating elderly people – but so far only 5% have received their first dose.
There is now very little time to inoculate Japan’s 36 million retirees before the Games open on July 23.
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