Osaka governor says Olympic torch relay should be cancelled: Reports
Preparations for Tokyo 2020 enter final stretch
Osaka's governor Hirofumi Yoshimura on Thursday said that the Olympic torch relay in the city of Osaka should be cancelled due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, Japan's Kyodo News reported.
"We will ask people to refrain from going out for non-urgent matters," Kyodo quoted Yoshimura as telling reporters on Thursday regarding COVID-19 countermeasures.
"The torch relay in Osaka city should be cancelled," the news agency quoted him as saying.
Yoshimura, earlier, said that the surge in new COVI-19 cases in Osaka has raised concerns about a fresh wave of the infectious virus in the western Japanese metropolis. The fresh wave could be the worst one yet.
The region report 599 new cases on Wednesday. That was a jump from 432 on Tuesday and near the all-time high of 654 set on January 8.
The torch relay began last week in Fukushima and is being seen as the first major test of the Games in holding a large-scale event while implementing stringent health protocols. The relay is scheduled to through Osaka from April 13-14.
Around 10,000 runners will carry the torch through the country's 47 prefectures over 121 days.
(Inputs from Reuters)