Fans barred from Games as Tokyo emergency declared

Spectators will be banned from Olympic Games events in Tokyo after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday declared another state of emergency for the capital.

The move to shut out spectators came after International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach arrived in Tokyo on Thursday to oversee the last leg of preparations for the Games, which will start on July 23.

"It is regrettable that the Olympics will be held in a very limited format," said Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee. "I apologize to those who bought tickets."

The state of emergency will go into effect from Monday and will last through Aug 22. The Games will end on Aug 8.

With the opening ceremony just two weeks away, the declaration will inevitably be another blow to the Games, which had been postponed for a year due to the pandemic.

"We must take stronger steps to prevent another nationwide outbreak, while also considering the impact of coronavirus variants,"Suga said in announcing the emergency.

A state of emergency that was already in place in the southern prefecture of Okinawa will be extended through Aug 22.

A semistate of emergency, which carries fewer restrictions on business activity, will take place during the same period for Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa, the three prefectures surrounding Tokyo.

The organizers had earlier banned overseas spectators and set the limit on the number of domestic fans to 50 percent of capacity, with a maximum number of spectators set at 10,000 people.

In line with the emergency declaration, Health Minister Norihisa Tamura urged people to watch the Games at home on Thursday.

"The government will likely to ask sports bars and other drinking establishments to close during the state of emergency," said Tamura.

The impact of COVID-19 in Japan has been relatively mild compared to other countries like the United States. The country has so far recorded more than 810,000 cases and 14,900 deaths.

Tokyo reported 920 new cases on Wednesday, the highest daily figure since May, when the case count briefly rose over 1,000.

Ryuji Wakita, director-general of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, said two-thirds of Japan's cases are from the Tokyo region.