Tokyo, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga expanded the country's current state of emergency to another seven prefectures including Osaka and Kyoto on Wednesday, as Japan's cumulative total of confirmed coronavirus cases exceed 300,000.
The move brings the number of prefectures under the state of emergency to 11, including Tokyo, the Olympic host city. This has cast more doubt on whether the Tokyo Olympics Games will be held as planned.
Rumors ran wild last weekend that the Tokyo Olympic Games would be postponed to 2032, immediately causing a stir among athletes who had planned to compete at the showpiece event in less than 200 days.
Both the IOC and Tokyo 2020 organizing committee moved swiftly to deny such accusations, dismissing all such reports concerning the cancellation of the Games as "fake news." They reaffirmed their commitment to hosting the already-delayed Tokyo 2020 Games this summer.
But with the COVID-19 pandemic situation worsening in Tokyo and surrounding areas with Olympic venues, and Japan's capital currently in its second state of emergency, it is becoming increasingly difficult to convince doubters that the Games can take place on their rescheduled dates of July 23 to August 8.
The state of emergency in Tokyo will be lifted on February 7 and organizers are in a race against time to control the pandemic before Olympic test events resume in early March.
As the country has seen a rapid increase in the number of infections since the end of last year, the IOC and Tokyo 2020 may have to consider hosting the Games behind closed doors or with Japanese local spectators only, as some medical experts have suggested.
The biggest problem for Japan to consider is the pandemic situation in other countries and regions, especially the United States, which has won the most gold medals in Olympic history. On Tuesday, the U.S. recorded more than 235,000 new cases and a record high of nearly 4,500 deaths.
With over 80 percent of Japanese people wanting the Olympics to be cancelled or postponed again, according to the latest Kyodo poll, it remains to be seen whether the country is willing to welcome athletes from nations that are struggling to control the coronavirus.
