Restart date for test events postponed by a month

Tokyo: The restart date for the Tokyo Olympic test events has been postponed by one month from March 4 to April 3, organisers announced here on Thursday.

The final artistic swimming qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics, originally due to take place from March 4 to 7, has been rescheduled to May 1-4 because of travel restrictions under the current state of emergency in Tokyo and other 10 prefectures across Japan, writes Xinhua news agency.

The Tokyo 2020 organising committee announced that the first of 18 test events for the Olympic and Paralympic Games will involve wheelchair rugby, which will be held in Yoyogi National Stadium from April 3 to 4.

The FINA Diving World Cup will follow from April 18 to 23 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, which will also serve as an Olympic qualifying event. The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down in Tokyo three weeks after the Japanese capital entered a state of emergency on January 8. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 973 new cases on Wednesday.

The latest figure, as of Sunday and Monday, dipped below the 1,000-mark, before rising above the threshold on Tuesday where new daily infections in the city of 14 million rose to 1,026.

But a growing number of people in the Japanese government believe it will be necessary to extend the state of emergency for parts of the country continuing to see a high number of Covid-19 cases.