The president of the now-postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games says the event will have to be cancelled if the novel coronavirus pandemic is not under control by next year when the Games have been rescheduled. The comments by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, were published Tuesday by the Nikkan Sports daily newspaper. The former prime minister said holding the Games would mark a global victory if COVID-19 is contained. But he insisted there would be no more delays if the outbreak continues. FILE – A man wearing a protective face mask, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, looks at his mobile phone next to the Olympic rings in front of the Japan Olympics Museum in Tokyo, Japan, March 4, 2020.The Tokyo Games were scheduled to start on July 24, but Japan and the International Olympic Committee agreed last month to postpone the event. Mori’s remarks were published the same day Yohsitake Yokokura, head of the Japan Medical Association, told reporters during a videoconference that it will be difficult to restage the Summer Olympics next year without an effective vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Laboratories around the world are working on vaccines to guard against COVID-19, but experts say it could take months or even years to determine if any vaccine is safe and effective. Yokokura did not say whether the Tokyo Olympics should be cancelled if a vaccine is not developed. A Japanese infectious disease expert told reporters last week he did not think it likely the Games will be held next year because of the possible lingering threat of the coronavirus. Kobe University Infectious Diseases Professor Kentaro Iwata said because the Olympics involve bringing in athletes and spectators from all over the world, the risk would be high that the COVID-19 outbreak could restart.
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Head of Tokyo Olympics: Games Will be Cancelled if Coronavirus Pandemic Continues
