Photo taken on July 8, 2021, shows the National Stadium ahead of the July 23 opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. (Kyodo)

The Tokyo Olympics beginning in just a few weeks suffered another major blow when organizers announced this morning that competitions, including the softball games, will not have fans in the stands.

The following release was issued this morning by Kyodo News…

The Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators at venues in the Japanese capital due to a spike in coronavirus infections, Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa said Thursday after organizers made the unprecedented decision just two weeks ahead of the opening of the global sporting event.

KYODO NEWSThe announcement, abandoning their earlier plan to stage the Olympics in front of a limited number of fans, came after the Japanese government decided to put Tokyo under another state of emergency until Aug. 22, amid rising concern the games could trigger a further surge in infections.

The new policy of barring spectators in the host city was agreed on at a meeting attended by International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach and representatives of the four bodies, the games organizing committee, the International Paralympic Committee, as well as the Japanese and Tokyo metropolitan governments.

“It is extremely regrettable that the games will be staged in a very limited manner in the face of the spread of novel coronavirus infections,” Seiko Hashimoto, president of the organizing committee said. “I am very sorry for ticket holders and local residents who were looking forward to the games.”

At the outset of the virtual meeting, which was open to the press, Bach said he and IPC chief Andrew Parsons continue to be “committed” to delivering the games safely with the Japanese organizers.

“We have shown this responsibility since the day of the postponement,” Bach said. “And we will also show it today, and we will support any measure which is necessary to have a safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games for the Japanese people and all the participants.”

Seiko Hashimoto (seated, L), head of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee, and Japan’s Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa (seated, R) are pictured in Tokyo on July 8, 2021, during five-party talks ahead of the games’ opening later in the month amid the coronavirus pandemic. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike (in screen, L), International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (not in picture) and International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons (in screen, R) also attended the meeting remotely. (Pool photo) (Kyodo)

Even with the decision, it is still uncertain what the Olympics will look like when they take place between July 23 and Aug. 8 following a first-ever postponement last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, despite the organizers’ repeated pledges to stage a “safe and secure” games.

Having already barred Olympic spectators from overseas, the five organizers decided late last month to allow the venues’ capacity to be filled up to 50 percent, a maximum of 10,000 people per venue, on the assumption the COVID-19 situation in Tokyo would turn for the better supported by Japan’s belated vaccination rollout.

After Tokyo started to reel from a COVID-19 rebound, the Japanese government and the organizing committee once planned to lower the spectator cap to 5,000.

However, Tokyo on Wednesday reported 920 new infections, registering the highest daily count since mid-May, while medical experts continue to warn of the dangers of going ahead with the games when many countries are grappling with the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach waves from inside a vehicle at a Tokyo hotel on July 8, 2021, following his arrival in Japan ahead of the July 23 opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. (Pool photo) (Kyodo)

On Thursday, Tokyo reported 896 new cases of the virus, exceeding the number logged a week earlier for the 19th straight day.

Since pushing back the games in March last year, the government had been hoping that having as many spectators as possible and inbound visitors to the country would help revive its economy from a coronavirus-induced downturn.

Not allowing fans in Tokyo will also deal a heavy blow to the organizing committee, which initially projected the ticket revenue to be 90 billion yen ($820 million).

Bach attended the remote meeting from his hotel after arriving in Tokyo earlier in the day.

According to the organizing committee, Bach will quarantine at his hotel for three days. He is set to visit the athletes’ village in Tokyo’s Harumi waterfront district and hold meetings with the organizing body, both in person and remotely.

The IOC is also arranging for Bach to visit Hiroshima, which was devastated by a U.S.-dropped atomic bomb in World War II, on July 16, the starting day of an Olympic truce adopted by the United Nations.