Olympic Games: Morning will surely come - Mori hopeful amid COVID surge

Tokyo Summer Olympic president Yoshiro Mori said on Tuesday that preparations for the games are still underway even after more than 80% of people in Japan who were surveyed in two polls in the last few days say the Olympics should be cancelled or postponed or believe they will not take place. "To give joy and hope to many people, we will do our best until the end," said Mori during a New Year's address. The polls were conducted by the Japanese news agency Kyodo and TBS — the Tokyo Broadcasting System and are bad news for Tokyo organisers and the International Olympic Committee as they continue to stress that the postponed Olympics will open as scheduled on July 23. Tokyo is battling a surge of COVID-19 cases that prompted the national government last week to call a state of emergency. In declaring the emergency, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he was confident the Olympics would be held. But Mori said he sees hope ahead ""Spring will always come, the morning will surely come even on long nights."