Tokyo Olympic organizers have repeated their message at the start of meetings with the IOC that the 2020 Games will not be waylaid by the virus spreading from neighboring China.
Organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori says he wants to make it clear again that "we are not considering a cancellation or postponement of the games." The Olympics start in just over five months. The torch relay begins in March in Japan.
Japan reported its first death from the coronavirus, now called COVID-19, Thursday. Health minister Katsunobu Kato says the victim is a woman in her 80s who had been treated at a hospital near Tokyo since early February after developing symptoms. Her infection was confirmed after her death. Japan has confirmed 247 cases of the virus, including 218 from a cruise ship quarantined at the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo, amid growing fears of the spreading virus.
The coronavirus this week led to the cancellation of a Formula One race set for April in Shanghai. It has wiped out track meets, golf tournaments, soccer matches and almost all sports in China. It is also keeping Chinese athletes from traveling to qualify.
