Following a rise in the spread of COVID-19, Toshiro Muto, head of the organising committee for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has refused to rule out a last-minute cancellation of the Games.

Sky Sports reports that the pandemic has become a major challenge for the organisers as 10 more positive cases were recorded in the last 24 hours bringing the total number of people affected to 68.

Muto revealed during a news conference on Friday that he would keep an eye on infection numbers and hold discussions with organisers if necessary, with less than a week to go.

“We can’t predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases,” said Muto.

“We have agreed that based on the coronavirus situation, we will convene five-party talks again. At this point, the coronavirus cases may rise or fall, so we will think about what we should do when the situation arises.”

The Games which was scheduled to begin from Fri, Jul 23, 2021 – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, after a year’s postponement due to COVID-19 will be held without spectators due to rising cases of the virus in Tokyo.