Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday reiterated his commitment to hosting the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next summer, promising that the games, which were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be "safe and secure" even as Japan grapples with its worst wave of infections yet.
In a prerecorded address to the U.N. General Assembly, Suga invoked his past assertions that the Tokyo Games will serve as "proof that humanity has defeated the pandemic," which has claimed nearly 1.5 million lives around the world and upended the global economy.
"I will continue to spare no effort to bring about the games that are safe and secure," he said at a special session on the novel coronavirus.