Olympics: Tokyo 2020 announces opening event despite mounting COVID-19 concerns

The Tokyo city governor on Thursday said cancelling the Olympics is"unthinkable", although the classification of the coronavirus as a pandemic will likely have some impact on the Games.

US basketball was the latest sport to be hit, as the NBA said it would suspend the season starting on Thursday after a preliminary test on a Utah Jazz player came back positive for COVID-19. Coronavirus has already had some impact on the Games, as the traditional flame-lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece, is expected to be held without spectators after dozens tested positive for the virus nearby.

The fate of the Tokyo Olympics was a decision best left to the IOC, he said, but declined to comment on what the best move might be. Haruyuki Takahashi, an executive board member of the organising committee, told Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily on Wednesday it would be ideal to hold the Olympics as planned but"there has to be an alternative plan".As of Wednesday, Japan had 620 cases and 15 deaths, excluding people on a cruise ship that was quarantined near Yokohama last month, according to the health ministry.

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