Olympics-Japan sees no impact on Games from US travel advisory

Japan’s ruling party heavyweight said today that there are “realistic issues” over Tokyo Games which must be considered before a final decision, while Olympics minister sees no impact from the U.S. advisory against travel to Japan due to the coronavirus situation.

Ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s secretary general Toshihiro Nikai said he saw no direct impact on the Olympics from the U.S. travel advisory but added that there were important realistic issues that remained to be resolved.

The U.S. State Department’s “Do Not Travel” advisory and guidance for Japan on Monday (May 24) did not mention the Olympics specifically but warned against visiting the country now.

“We don’t expect any impact at the moment,” Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa also said during a regular news conference. She noted that the advisory did not ban essential travel and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee had said planned mitigation practices would allow for safe participation of Team USA athletes.

Top Japanese and Olympic officials have pledged the Games will go ahead as planned on July 23 after being postponed in 2020, even as surveys show a majority of Japanese want the Games cancelled or postponed due to worries over coronavirus.

via Reuters