Japan mulls banning all spectators from Games

Japan is considering banning all spectators from the Olympics, several sources said yesterday, with authorities expected to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo to contain coronavirus infections 16 days before the Games begin.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said his government would decide on new measures to stop the spread of the virus today. Those measures are expected to determine whether spectators can attend Olympic events.

Medical experts have said for weeks that having no spectators at the Olympics would be the least risky option amid widespread public concern that the Games will fuel new surges of coronavirus infections.

Organizers have already banned overseas spectators and set a cap on domestic spectators at 50 percent of capacity, up to 10,000 people, to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Officials have been wrestling with the question for months but a ruling party setback in a Tokyo assembly election on Sunday, which some allies of Suga attributed to public anger over the Games, had forced the change of tack, sources said.

"Politically speaking, having no spectators is now unavoidable," one ruling party source said.

Japan will hold a parliamentary election this year and the government's insistence that the Games – postponed last year as the virus spread around the world – should go ahead could cost it at the ballot box.

The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said restrictions on spectators would be based on the content of Japan's coronavirus state of emergency or other relevant measures.

Speaking after Suga's comments, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said the city would continue to prepare for "a safe Olympics" even under a fresh state of emergency.