Tokyo 2020: “State of Emergency” revoked in the Olympic hosting city of Sapporo

Tokyo 2020 Olympics was expected to be postponed in the wake of the coronavirus deadly virus spread all over the world. Japanese city, Sapporo that will be hosting the mega event was locked down and declared under the state of emergency. 

But it seems like there’s a piece of good news for the fans as Hokkaido, one of the islands in Japan has lifted the 3-week “State of emergency” and also started preparing for the most awaited Summer Games. The state of emergency was declared on February 28 with an immediate effect after the growing cases of the Coronavirus. 

Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki took the decision as he lifted this “state of emergency” as he suggested that the emergency period helped in avoiding the spreading of the deadly virus in large numbers. However, he has also said that the public should remain cautious regarding and contribute to tackling the problem. 

Sapporo, one of the largest cities in Hokkaido was initially supposed to host the football matches in the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics is also set to host the marathon and race-walking events. The officials have warned people to stay indoors and not step outside if they are concerned about the virus. 

Comparing to China and other nations in the same region, Japan has a fewer number of cases of coronavirus. Japanese Prime Minister has also promised to support Chinese and Korean counterparts as he wowed to conduct the Olympics in ‘complete form’. 

Both countries have reported a fatal number of incidents over the last few days, and Europe is now the epicenter of the outbreak. The games are expected to begin from July 24 and end on August 9.