Japan passed the grim benchmark of 50,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Dec. 1 amid a grim warning that more fatalities could be coming during the eighth wave of infections this winter.
Olympic torchbearers pose at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on May 17. Because Hiroshima Prefecture was under the COVID-19 state of emergency, the event was held without public attendance. (Jun Ueda)
Already rerouted and largely bereft of crowds because of resurging novel coronavirus infections, the much-hyped Tokyo Olympic torch relay will now have to bypass an entire prefecture located beside the host city.
“In the best interests of local residents’ safety and security, I’ve made the decision to cancel the torch relay on all routes in the prefecture,” Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai said at a May 27 news conference.
Local leaders and regional organizers have already restricted crowds and taken other anti-coronavirus measures for their legs of the 121-day Olympic torch relay that kicked off in Fukushima Prefecture on March 25.