Cancelling Olympics "impossible" says Tokyo chief

Tokyo Goverr Yuriko Koike on Thursday said cancelling summer Olympic Games was "impossible", amid concerns over spre of new coronavirus.

Koike said Tokyo was coordinating and closely discussing with International Olympic Committee (IOC) and organizers "toward holding games."

Earlier on Thursday, Koike met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to call for ditional support measures in dealing with virus outbreak and its impact on local ecomy.

president of Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said Wednesday he h received an apology from an executive board member who said Games should be delayed a year to two because of coronavirus.

"We are t thinking of changing directions r changing plans at all," Mori said.

He was referring to comments form Haruyuki Takahashi reported in Wall Street Journal.

"I spoke with Mr Takahashi immediately over phone, he said he's deeply sorry, that it was a slight slip of tongue and he wants to apologize for causing such trouble," Mori said, calling initial remarks "outrous."

For most people, new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

For some, especially older ults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

vast majority of people recover from new virus.

According to World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

In mainland China, where virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagsed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.

Organizers and IOC have repeatedly said games will open on July 24 as planned, with Paralympics opening on August 25.