A top official with the Japanese Olympic Committee said the games must go on next summer even if the coronavirus pandemic persists.
At a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said she anticipates the Summer games will go forward “by all means necessary” in the summer of 2021.
“The athletes are all working toward the event next year. By all means necessary, I think we have to go ahead with the Games,” Hashimoto said.
Hashimoto’s remarks came the same week that International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates said the Summer Games “will take place with or without COVID.”
The 2020 Games, originally slated for this year, were pushed back to 2021 after many countries around the world shuttered businesses and transport in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In Japan, more than 70,000 people contracted the coronavirus in the last six months, and more than 1,000 residents have died while battling the disease.
Schools in the country reopened this week, and the infection rate among the population has decreased dramatically since peaking in early August.
