TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday night (March 14) resisted pressure for changes to the Tokyo Olympics schedule even as sporting events worldwide fall victim to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.
Abe pledged Japan would host the Games as planned in July and said he had no immediate intention to declare a state of emergency over the virus outbreak, which has now seen more than 140,000 people infected across the globe and over 5,400 killed.
"We will respond by closely coordinating with officials concerned, including the IOC . There is no change in this," Abe told a news conference in the evening. England's football Premier League, America's NBA basketball season and the Augusta Masters golf major are just some of the competitions swept aside by the pandemic.
The Japanese parliament on Friday approved legislation that gives Abe the power to declare a state of emergency to combat COVID-19 but Abe insisted such a declaration was not yet necessary.
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