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THE torch relay for the Tokyo Olympics ran through a mostly empty Osaka city park today, showing the risks of trying to hold the postponed Games during a pandemic.
It came on the same day that the government said new coronavirus cases in Osaka hit 1,099, a single-day record for Japan’s second-largest metropolitan area.
The torch relay began three weeks ago in north-eastern Japan, attempting to navigate around the pandemic with a total of 10,000 runners criss-crossing the country and bound for the opening ceremony on July 23 in Tokyo.
Osaka, which announced plans last week to take the relay off city streets and ban the public, became the first detour since the relay began. Organisers warned beforehand there may be more.
Tomorrow’s second leg in Osaka, the day the Tokyo countdown clock hits 100 days to go, will be in the same park under the same closed-doors conditions.
