World News for Students of English

16-03-2021 07:00

Japan has decided that foreign spectators will not be welcome at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics due to COVID-19 concerns.

The Olympics and Paralympics are scheduled for this summer after being postponed for a year. The Japanese government has decided not to invite fans from abroad because there are public concerns about the coronavirus and the detection of more contagious variants in many countries. It’s also said that the opening ceremony of the torch relay will be held without spectators.

In the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, international fans accounted for 20% of ticket sales. However, a recent poll showed that 77% of Japanese people did not want international visitors at the games amid fears over a resurgence of infections.

Japan has been hit hard by a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and Tokyo remains under a state of emergency.

Difficult words: contagious (spread from one person to another by contact), torch relay (when a ceremonial torch is carried and passed by torchbearers as a symbol of the Olympic message of peace and hope), resurgence (a new start or a sudden, great increase in activity).

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