The initial decision.
On March 24th., the Organising Committee of the Tokyo Olympic Games took the decision to postpone their Games until 2021, using corresponding dates in July and August. By March 28th., the Games Chief had amended that and announced that, if the novel Coronavirus Covid-19 was still a global danger next year, those Games would be CANCELLED ! Apart from during war-time, this would be an unprecedented action.
As it is, any Athletics action on the outdoor track will not happen before the end of May 2020 at the earliest. In UK, the UKA has so far banned all face-to-face training and competition until May 31, but this is likely to be extended until June 30. Also in UK, a number of the usual Leagues have been wholly or partially cancelled. The same is true in most countries world-wide.
However, in the Pacific Oceania Area, in the third week of April, 14 out of the 22 countries had stayed clear of the virus ! The fact that most of them are at least tropical and those in the south were still experienceing their summer may have had a bearing on this. Swift total closure of borders and cancellation of incoming flights and ships contributed, plus internal lockdown and the quarantining of people recently returned from affected countries !
Suffice to say that the low natural resistance/immunity of the typical island populations (as in Kiribati) to such viruses, plus the basic nature of their health systems, could have meant that any infection of one person would spread (culturally) rapidly and would have had devastating impact on villages and then whole islands.
In Fiji, which has contracted the virus, they were also hit in early April by the strength 5 Cyclone Harold, which caused huge infrastructure damage from heavy rain, high winds and a massive storm surge ! (Virus-free countries Solomons, Vanuatu and Tonga were also seriously affected by this cyclone but are so far virus-free.
Much prayer will hopefully keep all those 14 countries clear, but the huge question remains: what happens when all the borders are re-opened and traffic (and people) flow freely again ???
UPDATE 06/07/2020.
Kiribati (and others in Oceania) have stayed clear of the virus and life is returning to normal. International flights are due to resume in August.
The Tokyo Olympics 2020 have been re-scheduled (virus at that time permitting !) to be staged, still in Tokyo, next year. The dates for Athletics have been given as July 23 to August 08.
Last Modified on 07/07/2020 08:57