The Olympics will take place without spectators in Tokyo, with the host city to be under a state of emergency that will run through its hosting of the games.
However, stadiums in the regions of Fukushima, Miyagi and Shizuoka will be permitted to have spectators up to 50 per cent of capacity.
Medical advisers have said for weeks that having no spectators at the Games would be the least risky option amid widespread public concern that the influx of thousands of athletes and officials will fuel a fresh wave of infections.
A state of emergency in Tokyo is set to begin on July 12 and run through Aug 22.
The Olympic Games are scheduled to run from July 23 to Aug. 8.
TOKYO INFECTIONS RISE
The decision comes after new daily infections in Tokyo, currently under slightly less strict “quasi emergency” curbs, rose to 920 on Wednesday, the highest level since mid-May.
Under the heightened restrictions, restaurants will be asked to stop serving alcohol, Nishimura said.
Areas neighbouring Tokyo are set to remain under “quasi emergency” through August 22.
Until this week, officials have insisted they could organise the Games safely with some spectators, but a ruling party setback in a Tokyo assembly election on Sunday, which some allies of Suga attributed to public anger over the Olympics, had forced the change of tack, sources said.
Japan will hold a parliamentary election later this year and the government’s insistence that the Games – postponed last year as the virus spread around the world – should go ahead this year could cost it at the ballot box, they said.
