Japan: Sumo tournament kick starts in presence of spectators despite COVID-19 scare

World-famous Japanese Sumo wrestling resumed tournament in presence of the live audience on Sunday, July 19 despite the COVID-19 pandemic scare. 

Fans gathered to watch the match with adherence to safety measures such as face masks and social distancing amid the new outbreaks reported in Japan recently. Held at Ryogoku Kokugikan, Sumo’s primary arena located in the capital city, the matches are expected to be held until August 2 according to reports.  

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Meanwhile, as several Japanese baseball and football stadiums opened to spectators, the authorities restricted the fans to 2,500 inside the stadium with a capacity of 11,098-seats. 

Provisions of temperature check-ups and hand sanitizers were made at the entrance of the stadium and the spectators were asked to maintain distance and abstain from interacting with the wrestlers for an autograph or any other purpose, as per reports.

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Further, the audience was mandated to wear face masks. Any spectator, that recorded a temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius (99.5 F) or higher was prohibited to enter the premises due to fear of coronavirus symptoms.  

Earlier today, Japan recorded 660 new cases of COVID-19, the highest single-day spike in more than three months that surged the overall figures to 24,860, according to a global coronavirus tally.

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Governor of Japan, Yuriko Koike, said at a press conference that the country had increased tests per day in view of the recent outbreaks, and therefore, the numbers depict COVID-19 positive cases that had earlier gone undetected.

Additionally, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the head for Japan’s coronavirus response team said that the clubs and bars needed to draft “new steps” to operate, while speaking at a daily COVID-19 briefing. 

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