Coronavirus Crisis Spells Uncertainty for Olympic Torch Relay

Tokyo, Jan. 22 (Jiji Press)--The cloud of uncertainty that hangs over the Tokyo Olympic Games due to the novel coronavirus epidemic is also casting a shadow over the Olympic torch relay, as local governments along the relay route scramble to prepare infection prevention measures. Although some municipalities plan on urging people not to gather near the relay route, there is no surefire way to prevent people from forming crowds and potentially spreading the virus. The Olympic torch relay is slated to begin on March 25, involving about 10,000 runners. The Tokyo Games organizing committee is in the process of drawing up guidelines for infection prevention with input from local governments. "Key factors, such as whether people will be asked to refrain from watching the runners from along the relay route and whether there will be celebrity runners, have yet to be decided," one senior local government official complained. "I want them to decide as quickly as possible." An official from Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan, the starting point of the flame relay, said that the prefectural government is doing what it can to prepare for the event on time. The prefecture is prioritizing infection prevention measures, planning to urge people at the starting point venue and waiting area to wear face masks and use disinfectant. It also plans to dispatch prefectural staff members to the relay route to urge people not to form crowds for watching the relay. "If too many people are dispatched to warn people, that may cause people to think there is a large gathering, attracting more spectators," the official said. "We are unsure what the appropriate number of staff members is." The eastern Japan prefecture of Tochigi, the second prefecture on the Olympic flame route, also sees requests to avoid watching the relay from roadside as inevitable. A prefectural official shot down the possibility of sponsor companies holding events near the relay route, such as putting on musical and dance performances and handing out goods. "If we allow it, that would be tantamount to us inviting large numbers of people to come, going against our anti-crowding measures," the official said. "We want to deliver the Olympic flame to Tokyo safely and without stops," the official added. Even with such stringent infection measures, hosting the torch relay and containing the spread of the virus is a difficult balancing act. "The torch relay is an event that is designed to attract people in the first place," an official from the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido said. "People will come even if we urge them not to." A senior official of the Tokyo metropolitan government is worried that the Olympic torch relay may create large crowds just as the Hakone Ekiden, an annual long-distance round-trip university relay race, early this year attracted massive crowds near the finish line in the Japanese capital. Organizers of the Hakone Ekiden had called on people to refrain from gathering near the relay route. "Even if we do call on people to avoid coming to the relay route, there is the issue of how we should do that," the official said. END