The head of the World Health Organization said Saturday it will not be easy to make next year’s Tokyo Olympics a safe global gathering after the pandemic.
Speaking at a joint news conference with the IOC, the WHO’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “national unity and global solidarity” to fight the coronavirus outbreak ahead of the Olympics. The Games, postponed this year, should bring athletes from more than 200 countries to Japan.
The Summer Games opening ceremony is now due on July 23, 2021, after the International Olympic Committee and organizers in Japan used WHO advice in March before agreeing a one-year delay.
Many health experts -- including those from host country Japan, have questioned how the event can host over 11,000 athletes before an effective global vaccine is in place to counter COVID-19.
"Nobody can at this moment in time really give you a reliable answer on how the world will look like in July 2021,"
"It is too early to start speculation on different scenarios and what it may need at the time to guarantee this safe environment for all participants."
“We hope Tokyo will be a place where humanity will gather with triumph against COVID,” Tedros said at WHO headquarters.
“It is in our hands, but it is not easy. If we do our best, especially with national unity and global solidarity, I think it’s possible,” he said.
