Organizers are set to decide in June how many spectators, if any, will be allowed to attend the pandemic-postponed Games.
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Fans in Japan could be allowed to attend the Tokyo Olympics events this summer. However, there is one catch. They need to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test, a Japanese newspaper reported.
Many athletes are expected to have been fully vaccinated by late July. But most Japanese citizens will be waiting for a jab with the Olympics starting in less than two months time.
Organisers are set to decide in June how many fans – if any – will be allowed to attend the Games. The Tokyo Olympics were delayed by a year due to the pandemic.
Overseas fans are already barred, and the report warned domestic fans may be denied entrance or thrown out for breaking the rules.
“The plan is to stop the spread of infections during Games time with strict countermeasures,” the paper said.
Under the plan, spectators must be able to show a vaccination certificate or a negative test taken at their own expense less than a week before entering the venue.
They must wear masks and fill in health-check sheets, and once inside must not cheer loudly or high-five each other.
Guards would be kept around venues to look at the behaviour of fans, the report further added. Additionally, public viewing venues will not be allowed to operate.
Japan’s vaccine rollout has been moving slowly, with less than 2.5 percent of the population fully vaccinated so far. Tokyo and other parts of the country are under a state of emergency. Tt was extended on Friday until 20 June, just over a month before the opening ceremony on 23 July.
A new country-wide poll by the Nikkei newspaper found that 62 percent of respondents wanted the Games to be cancelled or postponed again, while 34 percent were in favour of them being held this summer.
However, the organisers have repeatedly ruled out the Games being postponed again. The IOC have said time and again that they will host the Games this time around.
