TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday (Feb 3) that the government will keep in close touch with all relevant groups to ensure a virus outbreak does not have affect the Summer Olympics.

Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organisers are not considering cancelling the Olympics, which start on Jul 24.





Visitors wearing surgical masks attend the opening ceremony of the Ariake Arena, which will host volleyball and wheelchair basketball competitions. (Photo: Reuters/Kim Kyung-hoon)

"We will keep in close contact with everybody, including the International Olympic Committee and the World Health Organization, to take appropriate steps and keep the coronavirus from affecting the Olympics," Abe told a parliamentary committee.



The death toll from the coronavirus epidemic in China rose to 361 on Monday and a growing number of countries are reporting cases. Japan has 20 confirmed cases, 17 of which were people who had been to China or are Chinese.

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