Coronavirus: Olympics could be postponed, Tokyo says amid cancellation fears
- Japan’s Olympics minister says contract with IOC calls for Games to be held in 2020
- Chinese officials report further decline in disease’s spread, with record low of 125 new cases
The National Health Commission said there were also 31 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 2,943. With 114 of the latest cases occurring in Hubei, where the disease first emerged, there was also a jump in new infections outside the province to 11, up from six a day earlier. A total of 47,204 patients have now recovered.
China began releasing data for Wuhan, provincial capital of Hubei, in early January, where officials said cases rose from 41 on January 10 to 198 on January 19. National data was first published on January 20, when 291 people across the country were recorded as infected.
Tokyo ‘has whole year’ to host Olympics
Tokyo’s contract with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allows it to postpone the Games until the end of the year, Japan’s Olympics minister said on Tuesday, amid concern the coronavirus outbreak could force the IOC to cancel them.
“The contract calls for the Games to be held within 2020. That could be interpreted as allowing a postponement,” Seiko Hashimoto said in response to a lawmaker’s question in parliament.
Under the hosting agreement, the right to cancel the Games belongs to the IOC. Thomas Bach, president of the IOC, last week said his organisation was “fully committed” to holding the Tokyo Olympics on schedule despite the coronavirus spread.
Hashimoto said Japan’s government and Tokyo were still committed to hosting the sporting event, due to begin on July 24.
“We are doing all we can to ensure that the Games go ahead as planned,” she told parliament.
