The Japenese Government is planning to impose a virus-related state of emergency in Tokyo as the capital city preps for the 2020 Summer Olympics, suggested some reports. The restrictions can hugely impact the movement of spectators in the Olympic Games venues.

According to some Japanese media outlets, these emergency-induced measures that are expected to be lenient as compared to a complete COVID lockdown will be implemented till August 22. The move comes at the backdrop of a sudden rise in COVID-19 infection cases as the Tokyo Olympics approaches.

“The government decided to declare the fourth state of emergency for Tokyo and communicated the decision to the ruling parties,” public broadcaster NHK said.

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The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will kick off on July 23. The mega tournament was delayed by one year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and the organisers were quite clear about its conduction from the beginning of the year. It was said that the games will take place under strict anti-infection rules, with overseas fans banned and local spectators limited.

The emergency restriction that will soon be implemented, comes after the decision that the torch relay has been scrapped from Tokyo’s public roads came on Wednesday amid coronavirus concerns.

The Olympic flame arrives in Tokyo on Friday, but private torch-lighting ceremonies will replace the relay across the capital to prevent crowds gathering to watch, the city government said.

Till the opening ceremonies, the torch ceremonies will be streamed online, with authorities urging spectators to watch them “in the comfort of your home”.

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Amongst the torch relay events that will be conducted in public in Tokyo, only the relay leg in the Ogasawara islands — a remote archipelago some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) south of Tokyo.

Meanwhile, coming to the Tokyo Olympics games, participants have already begun arriving in Japan, with 11,000 Olympic athletes from around 200 countries set to take part.

Certain media reports suggest that fans are likely to be banned from the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. This includes sports event to be scheduled for evenings as well. The evening matches will also be held behind closed doors.

The announcement of the results of a ticket lottery for oversubscribed events has already been pushed back to Saturday — less than two weeks before the opening ceremony.