Tokyo Olympics: Torch relay to open in 100 days with 10,000 torchbearers
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Olympic Torch
The torch relay for the Tokyo Olympic Games will begin in 100 days and similar concerns with regard to safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic loom large over the same. Organizers said on Tuesday that the relay will begin on March 25 from Fukushima with no change to the venue and route despite the postponement.
The region of Fukushima is famous for a disaster that struck 10 years prior due to an earthquake which led to a nuclear meltdown in the power plants. The relay will begin from the region and involve 10,000 torchbearers along with a bigger number of officials. Apart from these, crowds of local residents are also expected to observe proceedings further bringing the number up.
‘COVID-19 countermeasures will be taken’
Speaking about the event and the looming threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, Yukihiko Nunomura, the vice director general of the organizing committee spoke to Associated Press and said, “The COVID-19 countermeasures will be worked on continuously for the torch relay; the audience, the torchbearers as well as the officials who are related to the program. We wanted to simplify the program as much as possible, trying to minimize the number of vehicles and audience as well. As you know the torch relay will go all over Japan and we will have a lot of participants.”
The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike also addressed the same issues and said, “A few vaccines are now being distributed and are actually being used. It’s a ray of hope.” Further details on the relay and countermeasures for the COVID-19 pandemic are awaited from the organizers.
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Nevin Clinton
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