Japan Declares COVID Emergency, Olympics Bans Fans

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators, the organizers said, after Japan declared a new state of emergency that will continue through the end of the Games due to a rise in Covid-19 infections.

Hundreds of athletes and officials from around the world have already arrived for the Olympics, which open on July 23. Foreign spectators were ruled out in March, but the organizers had intended to allow stadiums and arenas to be around half capacity with local fans.

More than 3.5 million tickets have been purchased by people in Japan for the Olympics, which run through Aug. 8. Most of those tickets would have remained valid.

Read the full article.

The #Tokyo2020 Olympics will be held without spectators after Japan declared a new state of emergency due to a rise in Covid-19 infections https://t.co/bxxGQx1Cmb via @AlastairGale

— Georgi Kantchev (@georgikantchev) July 8, 2021