Tokyo Olympics 2020: Organisers postpone training of volunteers for Games due to concerns over coronavirus

Tokyo: Organisers for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics have postponed training for volunteers because of the spread of the coronavirus in Japan.

The training was scheduled to be held starting Saturday but will be rescheduled, the organising committee said in a statement released late Friday.

The postponement of training will not affect other preparations, and organisers are not considering cancelling the games, the statement said.

Japan is facing growing questions about whether it is doing enough to stop the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which emerged in central China late last year and has spread to 24 other countries.

Some investors are starting to worry whether the coronavirus threat could scupper the Olympics, which are scheduled to start in Tokyo on 24 July.

More than 400 Japanese and foreign passengers are set to disembark from the virus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship near Tokyo after weeks aboard in quarantine.

More than 600 people on the cruise liner, which has been quarantined off Yokohama since arriving on 3 February carrying 3,700 people, have been infected.

Two of them — both Japanese in their 80s — died on Thursday, and about 100 passengers are set to be transferred ashore in coming days for further quarantine.

Around Japan, more than 80 people have tested positive for the virus, which has killed more than 2,000 in mainland China.