Organisers says they are not considering cancelling the Games after incorrect assertion spreads online

This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

Tokyo Olympic organisers have been forced to confront rumours the coronavirus outbreak could lead to the cancellation of the Games, less than six months before they are due to open.

The rising death toll in China from the virus, which has infected 17 people in Japan – including cases of human-to-human transmission – sparked claims online that the Olympics, which will be held from 24 July to 9 August, would be cancelled.

False rumours that the 2020 Games would fall victim to the virus gained traction on social media after Deutsche Presse-Agentur, a German news outlet, ran a story about discussions between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) that concluded that the outbreak “may have a significant impact on the Games”.

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The story, which was picked up by the Japanese-language Buzzap! portal site, generated at least 50,000 tweets under the hashtag “Tokyo Olympics Cancelled”.

In response, Tokyo Olympic organisers insisted they were “not considering” cancelling the Olympics and Paralympics. “We will work closely with the IOC and other concerned bodies to draw any countermeasures whenever necessary,” they said.

The IOC said it had been in contact with the WHO about the coronavirus, which has spread to more than 20 countries, prompting travel restrictions and the suspension of China services by several airlines.

“Countermeasures against infectious diseases constitute an important part of Tokyo 2020’s plans to host a safe and secure Games,” the IOC said in a statement. “Tokyo 2020 will continue to collaborate with all relevant organisations which carefully monitor any incidence of infectious diseases and will review any countermeasures.”

Earlier this week, Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, suggested that failure to contain the outbreak could affect the Games.

“With only 177 days to go and our preparations accelerating, we must firmly tackle the new coronavirus to contain it, or we are going to regret it,” she said on Wednesday during a meeting with municipal leaders. “I will do the utmost to contain this new problem as we cooperate closely with all of you.”

The coronavirus outbreak, which has killed 259 people – all in China – has already disrupted Olympic qualifying tournaments that were due to take place in the country this month.

The women’s football has been relocated to Australia and women’s basketball to Serbia, while boxing qualifiers for the Asia-Oceania region, which had been due to take place in Wuhan, have been moved to Jordan.

The world indoor track and field championships, which were to have been held in Nanjing in mid-March, were postponed for a year.

About 11,000 athletes – including a large contingent from China – are expected to compete in Tokyo. Demand for the 7.8m tickets is high, with applications exceeding supply by at least 10 times. Around 4.5m tickets have been distributed domestically via a lottery.

Several athletes skipped the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, citing fears over the Zika virus, which is transmitted through mosquito bites. However, there were no confirmed cases of Zika connected to the Rio Games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report