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Japanese government declare state of emergency in Tokyo

The Olympics will be held under a state of emergency in Tokyo due to a rise in the number of coro...



Japanese government declare st...
Other Sports

Japanese government declare state of emergency in Tokyo

The Olympics will be held under a state of emergency in Tokyo due to a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the Japanese city.

The measure - which will last until August 22nd - has been brought in with cases in the city hitting a two-month high.

It was reported earlier in the week that Japan's government was set to ban fans from all events at the Games, which are due to run from July 23rd to August 8th.

Organisers have already banned overseas spectators and set a cap on domestic spectators at 50% of capacity, up to 10,000 people

Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga said: "Taking into consideration the effect of coronavirus variants and not to let the infections spread again to the rest of the nation, we need to strengthen our countermeasures.

"Given the situation, we will issue a state of emergency for Tokyo."

Japan has had almost 15,000 deaths so far and on Wednesday, there were 2,180 new cases reported in the country with 920 of those in Tokyo.

A slow vaccine rollout has meant only a quarter of the population has had at least one shot and just over 15% of the country is fully vaccinated.

There will be a review of measures as vaccinations continue to progress but bars and restaurants will not be allowed to serve alcohol and must close by 8pm local time.

There has been widespread opposition to the Games in Japan, with calls for them to be postponed or cancelled.

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Covid-19 Japan Olympics Tokyo Yoshihide Suga