Tokyo Olympics updates: What you need to know about the July event

The Tokyo Olympics which were rescheduled for 2021 are set
to kick off on Friday, July 23 through Sunday, August 8.

The 17-day series of games were postponed following the
spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The event will mark the second time Japan’s capital has
hosted the games since 1964.

More than 11,000 athletes are expected to participate in the
games, which will be held across 42 competition venues in Japan’s capital.

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) said new sporting
events will be added this year including skateboarding, surfing, baseball, and
karate.

According to TeenVogue, IOC and the Japanese government are
determined to have ‘the show running’ and athletes from different parts of the
world are already arriving –but with restrictions to remain confined in their
hotel rooms.

The covid-19
situation in japan

The major concern in having the event go on across the world
now is the Covid-19 pandemic and its positivity rate –with reported cases of
new strains of that virus that mutate to resist or reduce vaccine protection.

Media reports indicate that Japan is still in an acute
condition based on the current coronavirus infection rates.

The country is hit badly by COVID-19 this spring, following
the spread of a troubling new strain dubbed “Eek”. Hospitals are about hitting
capacity, forcing the government to have people be treated at home.

Japan is in its fourth wave of infections and as of May, the
country’s positivity rate peaked at about 6,200 cases daily.

Spectating

Reports show that more than 80% of Japanese residents are in
favor of the Olympics being postponed again or canceled altogether, with the
majority of volunteers quitting the games.

Despite controversies in the accuracy of data revealed by
the government and demonstrations to have the games postponed again or canceled
altogether, the government IOC has set plans to reduce international
spectators.

The games will be streamed across a mix of platforms, with
NBC broadcasting the opening and closing ceremonies along with competitions.

Additional coverage can be found on NBCOlympics.com, the NBC
Sports app, and NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock (which has a free
tier for Olympics coverage).

The Japanese government has said it will make a final
decision about crowds and potential crowd capacities by around June 20, to give
local spectators an overview on how to watch the events.