TOKYO: An International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson said he understood the concerns of the Japanese people amid a record-breaking surge in coronavirus infections while Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games.
But IOC spokesman Mark Adams stressed the lower infection rate in the Olympic bubble as well as comments from the prime minister and Tokyo governor of "no link" between the Games and the rise in cases.
Japan is set to expand the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo to neighboring areas and the western city of Osaka on Friday in the wake of the surge.
A government panel approved the plan putting Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, as well as Osaka, under the state of emergency from Monday until Aug.31.
The measures already in place in Tokyo and the southern island of Okinawa will be extended until the end of August.
Adams also stated there were currently no plans to merge the Olympic committees of China and Hong Kong.
"There's been no discussion of Hong Kong's status as far as I'm aware. In other words: I see no reason why it won't continue (as a separate Olympic committee)," he said.
Earlier this week an activist group accused Iranian athlete Javad Foroughi of being a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The Quds Force of the IRGC is designated as a terrorist organisation by both the US and the European Union.
Responding to a question about the accusations, Adams said the IOC would "encourage them if they have any evidence to send that to us certainly."
Foroughi won the gold medal in the shooting competition.