JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday called for sports and cultural events to be scrapped or curtailed for two weeks as the country battles to stem the coronavirus contagion amid mounting concerns the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could be canceled.

Abe’s call came after a Tokyo baseball team said it would play games in an empty stadium this weekend, while two businesses in central Tokyo reported confirmed cases of infection a day after the government urged companies to recommend staff consider working from home.

Earlier yesterday, the minister in charge of the Olympics sought to quell fears the Olympics could be canceled.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound said earlier the Games would more likely be canceled than postponed or moved should the virus threat enforce any change in schedule, the Associated Press reported, with a decision necessary by May.

“The IOC is preparing for the Tokyo Games as scheduled,” Minister Seiko Hashimoto said in parliament when asked about Pound’s comment. “We will continue our preparations so that the IOC can make sound decisions.”

In a briefing with reporters, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said he had been told by the IOC that Pound’s comment that any cancellation decision would be made in May was not the IOC’s official stance. (SD-Agencies)