lørdag 26. juni 2021

Japan’s emperor voices concern about Covid spread during Olympics

Japan’s emperor has voiced concern over the possible spread of coronavirus during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, in an unexpected intervention in the debate over holding the Games in the middle of a pandemic. Naruhito, who ascended the Chrysanthemum throne in 2019 after his father, Akihito, abdicated, said he shared widespread public concern about the Games, which open in a month’s time. “The emperor is extremely worried about the current status of coronavirus infections,” Yasuhiko Nishimura, the grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency, told a regular news conference on Thursday. “Given the public’s worries, he appears to be concerned about whether the event would cause infections to spread,” Nishimura added, according to Kyodo news agency.