No change in plans for 2020 Olympics, says Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Thursday insisted that there has been no change to plans to hold the upcoming 2020 Olympics from July 24, Al Jazeera reported.

Tokyo is set to host the Olympic Games from July 24 to August 9. However, coronavirus has taken a huge toll on sports across the globe with many competitions either being postponed or taking place behind closed doors.

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and expressed deep concern both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.

Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on March 6 urged all athletes to continue to prepare for the Games. It also announced that a joint task force had already been created in mid-February which involves the IOC, Tokyo 2020, the host city of Tokyo, the government of Japan and the WHO.

"Looking ahead to Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the IOC EB meeting started with a report on all the measures taken so far to address the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, which was followed by a comprehensive discussion. A joint task force had already been created in mid-February, involving the IOC, Tokyo 2020, the host city of Tokyo, the government of Japan and the World Health Organization (WHO)," IOC had said in a statement.

"The IOC EB appreciates and supports the measures being taken, which constitute an important part of Tokyo's plans to host safe and secure Games. The EB expressed its full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and encourages all athletes to continue to prepare for the Games," the statement added.

Coronavirus which originated in the Wuhan city of China has so far spread to more than 90 countries infecting over 1,10,000 people.