Tokyo Olympics will be safe from coronavirus: Coates
Australian Olympic boss John Coates has reassured athletes and spectators it is safe to attend the Tokyo Games.
Australian Olympic boss John Coates has reassured athletes and spectators it is safe to attend the Tokyo Games amid the coronavirus outbreak in neighbouring China.
Travelling to Tokyo last week for a project review meeting, the former International Olympic Committee vice-president was briefed on organisers’ contingency plans for the deadly virus.
“We’re very satisfied that all the checks and balances will be there by the time the athletes and the spectators enter the country,” the Australian Olympic Committee president said in Sydney on Wednesday.
Despite the outbreak spreading from China, a top World Health Organisation official said it was too soon to say whether the Tokyo Olympics were at risk of being cancelled or moved.
Tokyo organisers and the International Olympic Committee have repeatedly said they had no contingency plans for the July 24-August 9 Summer Games since the WHO declared a global health emergency last month.
Geneva-based WHO has been in regular contact with the IOC in nearby Lausanne since the virus known as COVID-19 emerged in December.
“We don’t give them judgments,” the UN agency’s emergencies program director, Michael Ryan, said. “We assist them with their risk assessment.’’
Agencies
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