Spectators have been banned from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as Japan declares a state of emergency over the ongoing pandemic.
The decision was made as the number of Covid-19 infections in Tokyo continues to rise ahead of the July 23 opening ceremony, per the BBC.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that the state of emergency would run from July 12 and until August 22 in a bid to stop the virus from spreading during the games.
As well as spectators being banned from the Olympics, bars and restaurants in Tokyo cannot serve alcohol and must close by 8:00PM
This comes after international spectators were banned from attending the games back in March.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were originally meant to take place last summer, but they were postponed as a result of the global pandemic.
The Olympic minister, Tamayo Marukawa, said: "Venues in Tokyo will not include spectators. For those areas where the state of emergency is not implemented... we will discuss."
A meeting between the organizing committee, the government, and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach was held before the decision to ban spectators was made.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is pictured below declaring a new state of emergency.
Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said: "It is regrettable that we are delivering the Games in a very limited format, facing the spread of coronavirus infections.
"I am sorry to those who purchased tickets and everyone in local areas."
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said that the decision to hold the Olympic games without spectators would be "heartbreaking" for sports fans.
A state of emergency was announced in Tokyo earlier in the day after rising cases of Covid-19.
"Taking into consideration the effect of coronavirus variants and not to let the infections spread again to the rest of the nation, we need to strengthen our countermeasures," the prime minister said. "Given the situation, we will issue a state of emergency for Tokyo."
As per the BBC, there were 2,180 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Japan on Wednesday, and 920 of these were in Toyko - an increase of 714 compared to last week.
