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BSP-18
HEALTH-VIRUS-OLY-2020
Olympic chief calls for ‘vigilance and patience’ ahead of Tokyo Games
LAUSANNE, May 16, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Olympic chief Thomas Bach on
Saturday called for vigilance and patience in preparations for the
Tokyo Summer Games, postponed a year until 2021 because of the
coronavirus pandemic.
Bach was speaking after the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
he heads and the World Health Organization (WHO), which is led by
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, signed a cooperation agreement on
promoting healthy society through sport and on contributing to the
prevention of non-communicable diseases.
Asked how the IOC might manage sports at Tokyo involving
human-to-human contact without a vaccine having been found by then,
Bach said: “We’re one year and two months away from these Games, and
then we will take all the necessary decisions at the right time
relying on the advise of the World Health Organization, discussing it
on our joint task force.
“But I think nobody can at this moment in time really give you a
reliable answer on how the world will look like in July 2021.
“So we have to be vigilant and we have to be patient at the same
time to take the right measures to ensure the safe participation of
everybody in the Games.”
In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, which has killed more than
304,000 people globally and infected 4.5 million, the IOC in March
took the historic decision to postpone the Games, scheduled to open in
Tokyo on July 24, until July 23 to August 8, 2021. It was the first
peacetime postponement of the Games.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2105hrs