Japan PM Suga insists Tokyo Olympics will be held as COVID cases spike

With Japan on the brink of declaring a state of emergency over a recent spike in COVID-19 cases, Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga insisted on Monday that the Tokyo Summer Olympics must be held as planned. With Japan facing an increase in hospitalisations and deaths in recent weeks, Suga said vaccine approval was being speeded up and border controls tightened to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and he promised to consider declaring a state of emergency.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike and the governors of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa had asked the national government Saturday to declare the emergency after the capital saw a daily record of 1,337 cases on New Year's Eve.

Worries have been growing about holding the Olympics in July, which will mean the arrival of tens of thousands of athletes, officials and media. Suga stressed his determination to hold the Olympics, which he said will serve as "proof that people have overcome the coronavirus," giving "hope and courage." Preparations were moving ahead, he said. 

(Image Credits: AP)