Japan mulls postponing Olympics

As thousands defied coronavirus fears and queued for hours to see the Olympics flame in northern Japan, the organizing committee was reportedly drafting plans in the event of the Games being postponed.

In contrast to the steadfast insistence of the Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee that the Games would go ahead from July 24 as scheduled, different options are being looked at, according to sources familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Finally, we have been asked to do a simulation in case of a postponement," said one of the sources, an official close to the organizing committee who is involved in looking at such scenarios.

The official said the committee is "making alternative plans", which includes scaling back the Games or holding them without spectators, and is also "looking at different postponement time frames".

While the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted sports events around the world, Japan has been steadfast in saying the Games will be put on as scheduled as the country went on with the Olympics flame handover from Athens.

On Friday the flame arrived in Japan, and on Saturday, it was greeted by more than 50,000 people in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, where some had to stay in a 500-meter queue for several hours to see the flame.

According to Japan's health ministry and local governments, the number of infections in the country had risen to 1,055 on Sunday, an increase of 40 from a day earlier.

In South Korea, the country's health authorities remained on alert over new cluster infections and imported cases, mainly from Europe, despite recording fewer than 100 new cases on Saturday.

Starting on Sunday, it began conducting tests on all arrivals from Europe and requiring even those with negative results to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine, Yonhap News Agency said.

The 98 cases, detected on Saturday, took the country's total to 8,897, said the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the Middle East, Iran announced 129 new deaths, raising to 1,685 the official death toll in one of the worst-hit countries.

Health ministry spokesman Kianouche Jahanpour said more than 1,028 new cases had been recorded in the previous 24 hours and a total of 21,638 people had now tested positive.

Also, Iran imposed a two-week closure on major shopping malls and centers across the country. However, pharmacies, supermarkets, groceries and bakeries will remain open.

In Africa, lockdowns have begun as cases rose above 1,000 in more than 40 countries and the death toll rose to 28.

On Saturday Nigeria announced it was closing its airports to all incoming international flights for one month. And Rwanda said on Saturday that all unnecessary movements outside the home are banned for two weeks except for essential services such as health care and shopping.

Uganda is closing its borders to all but cargo, and the Republic of Congo and Ghana are closing their borders.

Uganda, Eritrea and Angola announced their first cases, which means that all but 12 of Africa's 54 countries are now affected by the virus.

Liu Xuan in Beijing, agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.