Cancelling Tokyo Olympics an option if COVID-19 situation worsens: LDP Secretary-General

TOKYO -- Secretary-General of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Toshihiro Nikai said Thursday that cancelling the Tokyo Olympics this summer could be an option if the COVID-19 situation continues to worsen.

Nikai, the No 2 leader of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's ruling party, said in a TV show yet to be aired that cancelling the Games may be an option if the spread of coronavirus infections forces organizers to think it would be difficult to hold the event, according to Kyodo News.

His remarks came as the capital on Wednesday began a 100-day countdown until the beginning of the already postponed quadrennial event, with concerns rife that COVID-19 cases in and outside of Tokyo could be set to worsen.

Such is the severity of Japan's rebounding COVID-19 infections that the head of the government's COVID-19 panel warned that Japan has entered a "fourth wave" of infections.

Shigeru Omi, an expert in infectious diseases who heads the government's COVID-19 subcommittee, told a parliamentary session the previous day the central government should broaden the areas currently subjected to stricter antiviral measures under a revised law.

Omi said the expansion should be undertaken by the government "in an extremely swift and nimble manner."

On Monday, Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa prefectures were added to a list of regions where tougher virus measures have come into effect under a new law that falls short although is on the brink of declaring a state of emergency.

东京——日本执政的自由民主党(自民党)秘书长二阶俊博周四表示，如果新冠肺炎局势继续恶化，取消今年夏天的东京奥运会可能是一种选择。

据共同社报道，菅义伟首相的执政党第二号人物尼基在一个尚未播出的电视节目中说，如果冠状病毒感染的传播迫使组织者认为很难举办奥运会，取消奥运会可能是一种选择。

他发表上述言论之际，东京周三开始倒计时100天，直到已经推迟的四年一度的活动开始。人们普遍担心，东京内外的新冠肺炎病例可能会恶化。

日本新冠肺炎疫情反弹如此严重，以至于政府新冠肺炎专家组负责人警告称，日本已进入“第四波”感染。

传染病专家、政府新冠肺炎小组委员会主席尾身茂前一天在一次议会会议上表示，根据一项修订后的法律，中央政府应该扩大目前采取更严格抗病毒措施的地区。

Omi表示，扩张应该由政府“以极其迅速和灵活的方式”进行。

周一，东京、京都和冲绳县被列入根据一项新法律实施更严厉病毒措施的地区名单，尽管该法律濒临宣布紧急状态，但仍有不足之处。