TOKYO: Japanese government advisers on the coronavirus pandemic ceased to discuss whether or not the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should be held this summer, after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga expressed his intention to go ahead with the games at the Group of Seven summit in Britain on June 11-13, it has been learned.

“We initially had such discussions,” Shigeru Omi, chairman of the government’s pandemic advisory panel, told a press conference on Friday after he and other experts released recommendations saying that it is “desirable” for the Tokyo Games to be held behind closed doors.

Omi said the experts found their discussions on the issue to be useless after the remark by the prime minister at the G7 summit.

Asked whether it was too late for the panel to make recommendations on the games, Omi said, “Our duty is to assess risks and tell the government of our assessments. It is the government who makes the final decision.”

Omi called on the government and the Tokyo Games organizing committee to “take initiative to fully implement measures to prevent infections.”

“We hope that the Olympics will manage to end without causing (an explosion of) infections,” he said.

JIJI Press