Security Activities Begin At Tokyo Olympic Stadium
Security personnel for the Tokyo Olympics have started work, with less than three months remaining before the event's scheduled opening on July 23.
About 40 people, including private guards from a joint venture of security firms, joined a starting ceremony on Saturday at the National Stadium. A manager encouraged them to do their best to ensure the event's safety.
The staff were then deployed at the entrances of the stadium. They directed trucks delivering equipment and conducted patrols for suspicious objects.
The ceremony came amid a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases, with a state of emergency to be imposed in Tokyo and other areas from Sunday.
It remains undecided whether visitors will be permitted to view the events. Spectators from overseas have already been banned.
The Olympic organizing committee has arranged for 14,000 security personnel to be available for the event, but says it will review its plans depending on the situation.
A senior official of the security joint venture, Sugimoto Yoichi, said staff will prepare for the Games as much as possible, including measures to prevent virus infections and heatstroke.