Japan’s Olympics minister signalled on Thursday the Summer Games would go ahead as planned from July even as the coronavirus outbreak spread to new parts of the country.
The minister, Seiko Hashimoto made the comments on the same day that Japan reported its biggest one-day increase in new cases of coronavirus. Broadcaster NHK reported confirmed cases had risen to 1 036 nationwide as of Thursday morning, 36 more than the previous day.
And while plans for the Games to go ahead were unchanged, a state visit to Japan by Chinese President Xi Jinping was delayed following a decision by both Tokyo and Beijing.
The Olympics minister had stirred controversy earlier this week by saying the contract with the International Olympic Committee “could be interpreted as allowing a postponement” of the within calendar 2020.
“Based on the fact that the IOC never mentioned about cancelling or postponing the Tokyo Games at its meeting yesterday, I don’t expect a cancellation notice or anything of that sort,” Hashimoto told parliament.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said in a statement the metropolitan government was working in full collaboration with the IOC and organisers “to ensure the delivery of a safe and secure Games.”
Japan’s western prefecture of Shiga reported its first coronavirus infection on Thursday, a day after the announcement of a first case in the southern prefecture of Miyazaki.
National broadcaster NHK also reported new coronavirus infections in Kyoto, Sapporo and Niigata.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan and China would arrange a better time for Xi to visit as they have agreed to prioritise the fight against the coronavirus. The delay in Xi’s visit, originally planned for early April, will not affect Japan-China relations, he told a news conference.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing the two countries would maintain close communication on the timing of Xi’s visit, without elaborating.
Japan plans to impose two-week quarantines on Chinese and South Korean visitors, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
