Tokyo Olympics will be very safe, governor says

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike speaks during a task force meeting against the new coronavirus at the Metropolitan Government Office in Tokyo, Thursday, June 11, 2020. Tokyo has decided to lift its coronavirus “alert” after seeing the number of new cases stabilise, and will pursue further easing of business operations, with game centres, pachinko parlors and karaoke reopening Friday. [Kyodo News via AP]

Next year’s Olympics will be safe despite the coronavirus pandemic, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has said, pledging a “120 per cent effort” to ensure the first-ever postponed Games can go ahead.

Koike - who announced on Friday she would stand for re-election next month - said the city was committed to holding the event as a “symbol of human triumph” over the virus, but admitted it would be downsized.