The president of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee ruled out a cancellation or further postponement of the Olympics as doubts swirled among city government and medical professionals whether the event can be held safely amid the pandemic.
Public opinion polls in Japan have shown that a majority want the Games cancelled or put off yet again after being delayed by one because of the coronavirus crisis.
A majority of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly feel the same way, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper reported on Thursday.
“We cannot postpone again,” said organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto in an interview published on Thursday by the Nikkan Sports newspaper.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is likely to call a snap election after the Olympic and Paralympic Games, reported the Asahi newspaper, showing his resolve to push ahead with the event.
Foreign spectators have already been barred from the Games, and officials are undecided if Japanese fans will be allowed into venues. Economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura posted out on Thursday that excited fans, shouting and hugging, could pose a contagion risk.
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