Due to rising coronavirus infection, two more prefectures have decided not to allow Olympic fans into the Tokyo Olympic area. The announcement was made by Tokyo Olympic organizers on Saturday. The pandemic-delayed games will open in less than two weeks.
Tokyo organizers and IOC barred fans from Tokyo and three nearby prefectures earlier in the week. They are the majority of Olympic venues. However, a few outlying areas were initially allowed to have limited attendance.
Fans from overseas were expelled months ago.
Two prefectures, which were allowed to have fans, have now withdrawn from those plans.
Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, has decided to host its softball and baseball events without spectators. The northern prefecture, Hokkaido joined the party and will host soccer games at the Sapporo Dome without spectators.
Fukushima Governor Masao Umibori stated Saturday that many people, including children, had been eagerly awaiting the games. He said that he was sorry to have to cancel their opportunity to see softball and baseball at the stadium. It was a difficult decision.
Fukushima was the first focus of the Olympics. It sought to highlight recovery efforts in the area that had been devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, as well as the subsequent meltdowns of three nuclear reactors.
Uchibori stated that Hokkaido’s Friday move encouraged him to do the same. He stated that it was important for prefectures to be consistent.
Organizers said that there will be limited attendance at some other events in the prefectures of Shizuoka, Miyagi and Ibaraki.
Thomas Bach, the IOC President, probably didn’t see that there was a small anti Olympic protest at the five-star hotel where Thomas Bach is staying after arriving in Tokyo on Thursday.
Protester Ayako Yoshida stated that Bach seems to not have considered our suffering and critical situation.
According to how the question was phrased, polls show that between 50 and 80% of Japanese disapprove of the Olympics. However, opponents have not managed to draw large crowds on the streets.
Protesters carried signs in English, one that said “Cancel the Tokyo Olympics”, and one with a red line drawn through Bach’s face. It was captioned “You Aren’t Welcome.”
On Saturday, Tokyo saw 950 new infections. This was the 21st consecutive day of infections that were more than one week ago. This was the highest number of infections since May 13, when 1,010 were reported.
Japan has reported 15,000 deaths due to COVID-19, with 16.8% of the population being fully vaccinated. Although the pandemic is not as severe as elsewhere in Japan, 16.8% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
