Olympics organisers prepared on Tuesday to unveil their latest “playbook” of rules to control COVID-19 infections as Japan’s government pondered whether to extend a state of emergency and senior Olympics official John Coates arrived in Tokyo.
Coates, a vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its point-man for the event, sparked a backlash last month when he said the Games would go ahead even if Tokyo were under a state of emergency due to the pandemic.
Japan’s government is considering ending the state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures as scheduled on June 20, but keeping some curbs such as on restaurant hours until the Olympics start in July, domestic media have said.
Economics Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, in charge of Japan’s COVID-19 response, said that with hospital occupancy and infection rates still high, it was too soon to talk as if lifting the state of emergency was a done deal.
“Now is a critical time to call on the public, to suppress infections and to take initiatives for a stable supply of hospital beds,” he said. A decision could come as early as Thursday, media reported.
Organisers’ rules already mandate wearing masks by athletes and others in most situations and frequent testing for COVID-19. Athletes and members of the media, whose movements will be restricted, will be subject to GPS monitoring for the first 14 days of their stay in Japan.
About 11,000 athletes and 78,000 journalists, officials and staff are expected at the Games.
Japan has not suffered the explosive outbreaks seen elsewhere but has still recorded more than 772,000 cases and over 14,000 deaths
