Tokyo, Dec 4 (Sputnik) – Japan is still committed to hold the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in summer 2021, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in a televised address to the UN General Assembly on Friday. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Japan to reschedule the Olympics, originally set to take place in Tokyo in July and August, to 2021.
“This September, at the UN General Assembly, I expressed a commitment to hold the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo next summer as a sign of mankind’s victory over the virus. With this determination in heart, we will make everything possible to hold safe and calm competitions,” Suga said on late Thursday. The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 65.1 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 1.5 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). Japan has confirmed more than 155,000 coronavirus cases so far, with over 2,100 fatalities, JHU adds.