Tokyo new virus cases near 2,000 a day before Olympics open

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo has hit another six-month high in new COVID-19 cases one day before the Olympics begin, as worries grow of a worsening of infections during the Games.

Thursday's 1,979 new cases are the highest since 2,044 were recorded on Jan. 15.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is determined to hold the Olympics, placed Tokyo under a state of emergency on July 12, but daily cases have sharply increased since then.

The Olympics, which were delayed for a year by the pandemic, begin on Friday.

Spectators are banned from all venues in the Tokyo area, with limited audiences allowed at a few outlying sites.