Japan has lifted COVID-19 restrictions ahead of the Olympic games.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Government of Japan has approved the lifting of Tokyo’s Coronavirus measures a month before the Olympics.
The Japanese government, however, set new restrictions that could sharply limit fans at sporting events.
The current state of emergency in Tokyo began in late April and largely limits relaxation centres opening hours and bans them from selling alcohol.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has announced that the measure will now end in the capital and eight other regions on June 20, but will stay be in place in Okinawa.
Suga said, “The number of infections nationwide has been declining since mid-May and the situation in terms of hospital beds is steadily improving.
“On the other hand, in some regions, there are signs that the fall in the number of infections is slowing.”
He added that the government will implement so-called “quasi-emergency” in place of the emergency measures in Tokyo and six other areas until July 11.
The measures are meant to slightly relax the rules on alcohol, allowing sales until 7 pm, but restaurants and bars are to be shut at 8 pm.
Although Tokyo is likely to maintain strict limits on the number of spectators allowed at large events, the government has approved an upper limit of 10,000 spectators for areas not under any restrictions compared to the 5,000 people allowed by the current state of emergency.
These rules are likely to guide Olympic organisers on the number of domestic fans that will be allowed in.
Meanwhile, overseas fans have already been banned from the games for the first time, and organisers stated that they would wait to rule on domestic spectators until the emergency was lifted.
A report expected soon from some of the government’s top medical advisers will determine if it is safe to have spectators or not.
The experts will therefore impose additional rules if spectators will be allowed.
Meanwhile, organisers say more than 80 percent of athletes will be vaccinated and will be barred from interacting with the Japanese public.
