No cancellation of Olympics due to coronavirus, Tokyo organizers say

Tokyo organizers said on Thursday that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China will not affect the schedules of this summer’s Olympics.
“We would like to reiterate that we are not considering cancelling and postponing the Tokyo Games” due to the coronavirus, Yoshiro Mori, the president of the 2020 Olympic organizing committee, said, according to Deutsche press agency (dpa).

“We will coordinate with the government and react in a calm manner,” Mori said at the start of a meeting with members of the International Olympics Committee and Tokyo’s city government.

Last week, Tokyo Olympics chief executive Toshiro Muto expressed concerns about the effect of the Covid-19 disease on the 2020 Games, which kick off in less than six months.

“I'm very worried that the spread of the infectious disease could throw cold water on the growing momentum towards the Games,” Muto said at a meeting with officials of the International Paralympic Committee.

The coronavirus has killed more 1,300 people in China, mainly in Hubei province where it emerged in late 2019 and infected tens of thousands. Japan has confirmed a total of 203 cases, including 174 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama and one quarantine officer.

In late January, the World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus a global health emergency.