The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games organisers have said that COVID-19 countermeasures for next year’s rearranged Olympics will come with a hefty cost of 100 billion yen ($ 960 million), as per local media outlet Kyodo News.

The Japanese media had earlier reported that a total cost of 200 billion yen would be incurred due to the postponing of the games for over a year. 

The last official budget was provided by the organising committee in December 2019, months before the four-yearly games were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic was $12.6 billion.

While the International Olympic Committee has agreed to pay $800 million in additional costs over the delay of the Games, Japan-based organisers are yet to provide a specific number aligning with the costs, as per Reuters report.

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The organising committee in charge of the Games is expected to officially announce an adjusted budget before the turn of the year.

Originally scheduled from July 24 to August 9, 2020, the event was postponed in March 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Japan has registered 144,653 coronavirus cases and has clocked 121,891 recoveries. 2,100 people have perished due to the deadly novel virus that originated from the wet markets of Wuhan, China.