Tokyo Olympics to keep spectators from abroad to stomp Covid-19 risk

Tickets sold to foreign spectators will be refunded, the organizers said. About 600,000 tickets have been sold to people outside Japan and about 4 million to people in Japan.

“Our first priority has been, and will remain, the safety of all participants in the Olympic Games, and of course the Japanese people to whom we owe so much respect,” said Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee.

Japan is much less affected than the US and many Western countries by the corona virus, with fewer than 9,000 dead. The spread of new variants of the virus has raised concerns in Japan that an influx of visitors to the Olympics could accelerate the cases of Covid-19.

Opinion polls have consistently shown that a majority of Japanese prefer the Games to be postponed or canceled again instead of this year. Concerns about the spread of the virus are the main concern.

A mid-March poll by the Mainichi newspaper found that 49% of respondents wanted the Games to be postponed or canceled, while 45% were open to keeping them as planned this year. Most of the latter group thought foreign spectators were excluded. The poll did not give a margin of error.

Japan has only just started rolling out vaccines, but the organizers of the Games have said they would have enough social distance and hygiene measures to stop the spread of the virus. The IOC has said it would like athletes to be vaccinated.

Norio Sugaya, an infectious disease specialist at Keio University in Tokyo, said that even if people coming from abroad for the Olympics are limited to athletes, support staff, media, and other vital participants, infections can spread and lead to an illness. few hundred Olympic Games. related deaths. “Everyone is wondering if this is something we should do by taking such a risk?” he said.

The organizers did not say what would happen to the refunded tickets, but they were able to reduce the overall number of spectators at the event to reduce the risk of virus transmission. Any reduction in ticket revenues would be a blow to the Japanese organizers, who have budgeted for more than $ 800 million in ticket sales.

Companies that have already been hit hard by the corona virus, such as hotels and restaurants, are missing out on income from foreign tourists who come to Japan for the Games.

Toshiro Muto, Tokyo 2020 Chief Executive Officer, said the local organizers do not intend to pay cancellation fees for flights and accommodation booked by foreign spectators. He also said that guests of Games sponsors may be able to attend the event if they are involved in helping Olympic operations, but not if they are spectators only.

The events leading up to the Games will kick off on March 25 with the start of the Olympic torch relay around Japan that will end with the opening ceremony. The run-up to the Games has been overshadowed in recent weeks by the resignation of the Tokyo 2020 president and the creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies following sexist remarks.

Seiko Hashimoto, the new Tokyo 2020 president, said a recent modest rise in the number of new virus cases in Japan has contributed to the move to ban spectators from overseas for the Games. “In order not to burden the medical system, we had to make this decision,” said Ms. Hashimoto.

The agreement was concluded during a meeting between Mr. Bach, Ms. Hashimoto, the Olympic Minister of Japan, the Governor of Tokyo and the Chief of the International Paralympic Committee. It was expected after government officials recently told major Japanese media outlets that they would block spectators from abroad.

—Miho Inada contributed to this article.

Write to Alastair Gale at [email protected]