TOKYO: Fans will be banned from most Olympic events and Tokyo will be under a virus state of emergency throughout the pandemic-postponed Games, Japanese officials announced Thursday, just two weeks before the opening ceremony.
The decision, described by Tokyo’s governor as “heartbreaking”, means the Games will be the first to take place largely behind closed doors and is another blow for organisers, as they try to build momentum for the event.
When the Games were postponed last year as the scale of the pandemic became clear, there was talk they would be staged as proof the world had overcome the virus.
But that triumphant tone has given way to the harsh reality of new infection surges and…
