Contributed By Scott Lipscomb

Due to a surge in covid cases the Olympics have banned fans from all venues. While international fans were already banned, now local fans as well will be banned from attending.

After a new state of emergency, the cities fourth, the restrictions will be in place for the duration of the games.

“Many people were looking forward to watching the games at the venues, but I would like everyone to fully enjoy watching the games on TV at home,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said after a meeting with Olympics officials, the Associated Press reported.

Tokyo reported 920 new cases of the virus on Wednesday, an increase of 714 cases from the same time last week, according to the AP.

Fans have been banned from attending the Tokyo Olympics as a new state of emergency was declared in the Japanese capital where COVID-19 cases are on the rise.

“The number of infected cases in the area including Tokyo has been increasing since the end of last month,” Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday, the AP reported. “Considering the impact of variants, we need to enhance countermeasures so that the infection will not spread nationwide.”

Suga said the state of emergency will begin Monday and last through Aug. 22.

Do you think the games should be cancelled all together?