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Japan will limit spectators at the Olympics to 50 percent of the capacity of the 10,000-seat venue, a move in the face of the country’s official medical advice.
The decision to move forward with the audience at the games, even though most of the Japanese public is not vaccinated against Covid-19, suggests that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is at risk of other infections. give the Olympics success.
Shigeru Omik, a doctor who is directing Japan’s Covid-19 response, said the organizers had denied a request to hold the Olympics behind closed doors.
“We have been preparing for the last eight years and we would like these games to be a success,” Seiko Hashimoto, president of Tokyo 2020, said in a press conference on Monday.
He said there were many spectators who attended the sporting events during the pandemic, both in Japan and abroad, and stressed that the event could be held safely.
Last week, Omi warned that it would be a TV show in stadiums full of spectators send a contradictory message It was safe to reassure the Japanese people of the measures against Covid-19.
If the Olympics were to be held with spectators, Omi said there should be tighter restrictions than on other sporting events, and they should be limited to Tokyo residents so that the number of people traveling does not increase.
While organizers appeared to reject Omi’s requests, they said the rules could change if the coronavirus situation worsens.
“If an emergency situation is imposed at any time after July 12, the number of spectators will be based on the content of the emergency situation,” Hashimoto said. This means that the games are still behind closed doors.
A state of emergency was lifted over the weekend in Tokyo and other major cities in Japan, with new Covid cases across the nation hovering around 1,500 a day. Doctors are concerned about a new wave of the disease, especially as the Delta variant predominates.
The Olympics begin on July 23rd. So far, Japan has given him the first dose of vaccine 100 out of sixteen people, with priority given to medical staff and then to the elderly.
Hashimoto said only one in ten Olympic trials will be able to withstand a maximum of 10,000 capacity. This will feature final athletics demonstrations at the Olympic Stadium.
Limiting the number of viewers means a economic success for the organizers. Hashimoto said the revenue from the budget would be less than 90 90 billion ($ 820 million) of the budget.
Organizers said the city of Tokyo and the Japanese government will discuss how to fill the budget gap. However, according to the contracts on which the games are based, the burden is likely to fall on Tokyo taxpayers.
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