Japan Wants Big Events Halted or Scaled Back Due To Virus
Japan Wants Big Events Halted or Scaled Back Due To Virus
(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for major sporting and cultural events to be called off, postponed or scaled down over the next two weeks, saying the move was crucial in preventing the domestic spread of the new coronavirus.
Abe told reporters Wednesday that Japan was doing all it could to curtail the spread of the virus that has infected more than 80,000 people-- the bulk of whom are in China. Abe introduced a new government plan on Tuesday to control the disease that called on employers to encourage telework and stagger working hours in an attempt to slow the spread of the deadly disease.
One major concern facing Abe has been whether the virus will derail Tokyo’s plans to host the Summer Olympics later this year. Japanese and Olympic officials have said there is no change to holding the games as planned, but there is a lot at stake for Abe. Tokyo has been preparing for the games for about seven years, spending more than $26 billion to ready the city, according to some estimates.
“Given the importance of the next week or two in stopping the virus from spreading, and the large-scale infection risks of sports and cultural events where many people gather, the government asks that these events be canceled, postponed or minimized for the next two weeks,” Abe told reporters.
Top League, the country’s main professional rugby league, responded to Abe’s request by saying Wednesday it would postpone 16 matches. A day earlier, J-League said it would postpone all matches in the country’s main professional soccer league until March 15 due to the virus. Organizers of the Tokyo Marathon said last week they would ban about 38,000 non-professional runners from the race set for March 1 due to worries about the virus.
Concerts by some of the country’s biggest pop acts have been scrapped after one infected person was found to attend a gig. Tokyo is considering bringing forward the start of spring holidays for metropolitan government-run high schools, and the national government has approved shutting day-care centers in areas with multiple cases, local media reported.
To contact the reporter on this story: Yuko Takeo in Tokyo at ytakeo2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Jason Clenfield
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