Asia Pacific

Sections of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay could be scaled down or even cancelled if spectators lining the route fail to observe coronavirus restrictions, Games organisers have warned.

Spectators who turn out to watch the torch as it begins its journey around Japan next week must wear masks, avoid cheering loudly and keep a safe distance from one another, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee said on Tuesday.

“Please watch from the streets, but ensure you are physically distanced from everyone else,” Toshiro Muto, chief executive of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, said at a briefing on Tuesday. “We want you to ensure your safety while you are watching the relay.”

The prestigious event, which marks the official countdown to the postponed Games, will begin in Fukushima on 25 March, just four days after Tokyo is scheduled to lift a state of emergency declared in early January amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the capital. The city reported 300 new infections on Tuesday, up from 290 a week earlier and bringing its total caseload to almost 16,000.

The relay opening ceremony at J-Village – a football training complex that became the nerve centre for the response to the March 2011 meltdown at nearby Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station – will be held without spectators.

Once the torch, initially carried by members of the women’s national football squad, reaches surrounding streets, spectators will be expected to follow the rules or risk seeing the relay leg cancelled, Hidemasa Nakamura, the Tokyo 2020 Games delivery officer, said.

If, for example, people were touching shoulders, “we would send out a request for them to spread out”, Nakamura said, adding that police could be called on to repeat the request if people refused to move. “If there is still congestion, then there could be a stronger message,” he said.

Japan coronavirus cases

Organisers outlined the measures hours after the Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, received the first of two Covid-19 vaccinations before his trip to Washington next month to meet the US president, Joe Biden.

A masked Suga rolled up his shirt sleeve and did not appear to experience any discomfort as the vaccine was administered in front of TV cameras at a Tokyo hospital.

Suga, who is 72, had indicated he would not be vaccinated until 36 million people aged 65 or over become eligible for the jab in mid-April, but the Japanese and US governments reportedly agreed to take precautions. Biden received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine before his inauguration in January.

Japan has so far vaccinated tens of thousands of medical workers, some of whom have been asked to monitor their health for possible side-effects.

Japan was the last G7 nation to begin its vaccination programme, and much of the country will still be unprotected by the time the Olympic torch is carried into the main stadium in Tokyo for the Games’ opening ceremony on 23 July.

People with existing conditions, care home staff and those aged 60-64 will be immunised from June, the health ministry has said, but no timeline has been given for people aged between 16 and 60.

Supply issues and vaccine hesitancy could further delay the rollout. A poll by the Kyodo news agency last month found only 63.1% of people said they wanted to be inoculated, with 27.4% saying they did not want the jab.

Suga has said he will secure enough doses for Japan’s 126 million people in the first half of this year, although the under-16s will not be inoculated.

The unusual provisions for the relay are another sign of the difficulties organisers face as they attempt to carry off an event involving tens of thousands of athletes, officials, sponsors and journalists in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

The option of cancelling or dramatically scaling down the relay reportedly gained little traction with organisers, partly because its sponsors include corporate giants such as Toyota and Coca-Cola.

About 10,000 torchbearers will carry the symbol of the Games through 859 locations in Japan’s 47 prefectures, culminating in its arrival at the Olympic stadium.

But the runners will not include the footballer Nahomi Kawasumi, who confirmed she would not take part due to Covid-19 fears.

“Again, I will decline to be a torch relay runner,” she tweeted on Monday. “I made this decision because the infectious disease problem has not yet been resolved and I live in the United States.”

People who turn out to catch a glimpse of the Olympic torch during its journey through Japan from the end of next month will be asked to applaud rather than cheer passing runners, and the event could be suspended if crowds lining the relay route grow too large.

The unusual provisions for the relay – the main precursor to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – are another sign of the difficulties organisers face as they attempt to carry off an event involving tens of thousands of athletes, officials and journalists in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Tokyo Games organising committee said it would broadcast the relay live when it begins in Fukushima on 25 March to encourage people to watch it at home.

About 10,000 torchbearers will carry the prestigious symbol of the Games through 859 locations in Japan’s 47 prefectures, culminating in its arrival at the main Olympic stadium on 23 July. One prefecture recently said it was reconsidering its involvement due to concerns over the virus.

“No shouting, no cheering. Please cheer by clapping your hands, and maintain an appropriate distance in case there is overcrowding,” Yukihiko Nunomura, the vice director general of the organising committee, told a media briefing on Thursday.

“If it turns out that there are dense crowds on the streets, the torch relay can be stopped as we prioritise safety and security.”

Any discussion of cancelling or scaling down the relay – which will begin at the J-Village football complex in the Fukushima village of Naraha – reportedly gained little momentum, partly because its sponsors include corporate giants such as Toyota and Coca-Cola.

Preparations for the Games, which are opposed by most people in Japan, have been further frustrated by the resignations over the past month of 1,000 volunteers, many of them angered by sexist comments made by the organising committee’s former president, Yoshiro Mori.

Organisers said not all of the people who quit cited Mori, who was replaced by Seiko Hashimoto, as the reason. Surveys indicate that some are also concerned about the coronavirus.

The organisers added, however, that they didn’t expect the resignations to affect the Games, noting that only a small proportion of the 80,000 volunteers had pulled out. The Tokyo metropolitan government has recruited another 30,000 volunteers.

Few people in Japan are likely to have been vaccinated by the time the Games open, adding to concerns that the arrival of large numbers of Olympics-related staff in Tokyo could trigger a fresh outbreak of the virus.

Japan has avoided the large numbers of cases and deaths seen in the US and Europe, but its vaccine rollout has barely begun less than five months before the opening ceremony.

The country’s vaccine tsar, Taro Kono, told reporters on Wednesday that the Olympics were “not on my schedule at all”.

Athletes are being encouraged to get vaccinated against Covid-19 before arriving in Tokyo, but jabs will not be compulsory, John Coates, vice president of the International Olympic Committee, said on Thursday.

“Not compulsory, we can’t do that,” Coates, who heads the IOC’s coordination commission for the Tokyo Games, told reporters in Brisbane.

“But it is certainly being encouraged and the IOC has an agreement with Covax where it’s helping to facilitate the distribution of vaccines,” he said, referring to the World Health Organisation’s global vaccine-sharing scheme.

Coates added, however, that he expected Australia’s athletes to be vaccinated by June “at the latest”.

He said the Japanese government was expected to make a decision on how many fans could attend Olympic events by April.

“A final decision will be taken by the Japanese government, it’s governments that decide these things on what’s safe and, a bit later, probably March, April … a decision on what venue capacity we are going to have,” he said.