from tokyo rupert wingfield hayes reports(tx next —— from tokyo rupert wingfield hayes reports.f in today, but for now, every day in the water counts. this woman has her sights set on a middle, in the first ever olympic surfing contest. at least, that was the plan until the virus arrived. translation: right now, i'm afraid. i don't know what is going to happen. the olympics is a dream for me, but we don't want to have a bad olympics, so maybe it's better to have the olympics when the fear has gone. here injapan, you could be forgiven for thinking that there is no global pandemic. schools are closed but apart from that, life is going on pretty much as normal, and it is the same with the olympic games. the japanese government insist it is full steam ahead for the opening ceremony onjuly the 2ath. there are now some prominent voices saying that is denying reality. in central tokyo, the brand—new olympic stadium is ready. $30 billion has been spent preparing the city. but the former governor of tokyo says the chances of holding the olympics this year are now tiny. in central tokyo,

let's talk to our tokyo correspondent, rupert wingfield—hayes. ng said there? that is right, not really a surprise, we have been expecting an announcement, butjust 24 hours ago the chief of the tokyo olympics held a press conference to say that postponement was being considered but it would take them about four weeks to make a final decision. well, 24 hours later, not four which, this has announced. prime minister shinzo abe really feeling the pressure in the last 204i was, not just feeling the pressure in the last 204i was, notjust because the who says that the coronavirus pandemic is continuing to accelerate, but also because a number of countries, including great britain, had threatened to pull out if the games went ahead this summer. australia and canada leading those calls, but us athletics also joining in today. so that really piled the pressure on shinzo abe, who called up the ioc chief, thomas bach, this evening in tokyo, and they both agreed that a delay was now necessary and that that would be beyond the end of this year and no later tha

from tokyo, rupert wingfield hayes reports.off in today, but for now, every day in the water counts. this woman has her sights set on a middle, in the first ever olympic surfing contest. at least, that was the plan until the virus arrived. translation: right now, i'm afraid. i don't know what is going to happen. the olympics is a dream for me, but we don't want to have a bad olympics, so maybe it's better to have the olympics when the fear has gone. here injapan, you could be forgiven for thinking that there is no global pandemic. schools are closed but apart from that, life is going on pretty much as normal, and it is the same with the olympic games. the japanese government insist it is full steam ahead for the opening ceremony onjuly the 24th. there are now some prominent voices saying that is denying reality. in central tokyo, the brand—new olympic stadium is ready. $30 billion has been spent preparing the city. but the former governor of tokyo says the chances of holding the olympics this year are now tiny. cancel or postpo

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, tokyo.d of self—isolation, 100—year—old yavar abbas had one important concern — how will this impact his upcoming wedding. the filmmaker and former bbc journalist was set to marry his partner, indian activist and writer noor zaheer, on march 27. with their plans in dissaray they managed to get the last wedding slot at their local registrar's office before going into self—isolation. let's take a look at their special day. let's hear from the newlyweds. we haven't got a lots of time. noor has to leave the country under the immigration laws by the 24th of april. when we went, when we found that this is going to happen, this wretched coronavirus, we had a, sort of, had another look at our situation. we went to the registry together, to the registration office two days before the 27th... the 17th. we we nt before the 27th... the 17th. we went on the 15th and they said that they could manage the 17th for us. the earlier, they said they could manage it on the same day within half—an—hour, they said

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, tokyo.risis, and many of them are finding themselves under unprecedented pressure. they have had to change their working practices and procedures to deal with the outbreak. our reporterjim reed has been to a gp practice in watford to see how they are getting on. hi, do you want to come over to the window? i will hand you the mask and if you put the mask on i will come round the side. i'll come and get you. across the whole country gps have had to change the way they work. here a patient with possible virus symptoms is passed a mask through the window. if you put that on i will come round the front. without testing, which they can't do yet in gp surgeries, we cannot know if she has the virus. each surgery has a different way of working. here, patients are told to self—isolate and go to the nhs website. if they need an appointment its limited to five minutes. the last thing i want to do. patient coughs check your blood pressure. heart rate is quite fast as well, actually. have you felt like yo

our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes was there for us.olling the epidemic here. and because of that the japanese government is saying, look, we still full steam ahead here for the 24th ofjuly. the relay and torch relay will begin as it is supposed to do next week. it will go oi'i supposed to do next week. it will go on this 121 day relay around the whole of japan. that on this 121 day relay around the whole ofjapan. that still plenty for all of this to go ahead, but i have to say there's many other voices here, many people to both express the former government officials, former governor of tokyo who said to me there's very little chance they think that it can go ahead as scheduled on the 24th of july. because even if everything is under control here, even if the epidemic locally here in japan under control here, even if the epidemic locally here injapan is well under control, or over, what about the rest the world? how can you hold the olympics when it still carries on elsewhere? is huge bed of uncertainty, we will wait for the ioc, and t

japan amid fears that lack of widespread testing hasllowed d.ecvirus to spreadteet u heres rupert wingfield-hayesporter: these newreally i thie insignificant pickup in the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in jstan over the eek or so. we have seen a particular rise, aarticularly large rise here in tokyo over the last few days. on saturday and sunday, we saw more than 60 new cases. on both days. that is much higher than we have seen in previous days. japan looked like it had this epidemic well under control, for most of the last month. the figures had been going up, but going up very, very slowly. suddenly, the middle of last week, started to look like there was an acceleration. ♪ laura: engineers in the u.k. have developed a tool that could keep coronavirus patients out of intensive care. the device sends oxygen to the t lungs withe need for a ventilator. itas created in just a few days. our medical correspondent w reports. reporter: for the very sickest covid-19 patients, a mechanical ventilator offers the best chance of survival. it takes over the job of breathing, giving the lungs a p

rupert wingfield—hayes is our tokyo correspondent. rupert, tell us more.ernment in japan did announcement that the government injapan did not wa nt to government injapan did not want to make but they really had no choice in the end. absolutely. i think many people here in tokyo, certainly the opinion polls have shown that most japanese people expected this, this didn't come as any surprise and 70% of people said that it was inevitable because of the spread of the covid—19 pandemic. nevertheless, until monday, the japanese government and the japanese olympic committee was insisting that no decision was coming, that they would need at least another month to decide what they were going to do. 24 hours later that all changed and suddenly prime minister abe and the olympic committee came out last night and said the games are being postponed until 2021. they haven't given a date for the new opening ceremony, they say it will not be this year and it must be held before the end of summer next year, so quite a wide window but it is definitely being delayed by quite

from tokyo, rupert wingfield hayes reports.in today, but for now, every day in the water counts. this woman has her sights set on a middle, in the first ever olympic surfing contest. at least, that was the plan until the virus arrived. translation: right now, i'm afraid. i don't know what is going to happen. the olympics isa dream going to happen. the olympics is a dream for me, but we don't wa nt to is a dream for me, but we don't want to have a bad olympics, so maybe it's better to have the olympics when the fare has gone. here in japan, you could be forgiven for thinking that there is no global pandemic. schools are closed but apart from that, life is going on pretty much as normal, and it is the same with the olympic games stopping the japanese government insist it is full stea m government insist it is full steam ahead for the opening ceremony onjuly steam ahead for the opening ceremony on july the steam ahead for the opening ceremony onjuly the 24th. there are now some prominent voices saying that that is denying reality.

here's rupert wingfield hayes.se government has brought are really, i think, in response to a significant pick—up in the number of confirmed coronavirus infections injapan over the last week or so. we've seen a particular rise, particularly large rise, here in tokyo over the last few days, so on saturday and sunday, we saw more than 60 new cases on both days. that's much higher than we've seen in previous weeks. and really, japan looks like it had this epidemic well under control for the most of the last month, figures had been going up but going up very slowly. and then really suddenly, in the middle of last week, it started to look like there was an acceleration, and on saturday evening, prime minister shinzo abe came out and said that he was concerned that tokyo might be on the verge of a very major outbreak. what's really strange here, living here in tokyo, is that even now, life is going on pretty much as normal. over the weekend, parks, the city's parks were all closed down, people were told to stay at home,

our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes was there for us.is saying, look, we're full still full stea m government is saying, look, we're full still full steam ahead for the 24th july. the full still full steam ahead for the 24thjuly. the relay, the torch relay will begin as it is supposed to next week and it will go on this 121 day relay around the whole of japan. they are still planning for all of this to go ahead but i have to say, there are many, many other voices here and many people have spoken to, both experts and former governor two government officials, the former governor of tokyo who said to me there is very little chanceit said to me there is very little chance it can go ahead as scheduled on 25july —— 24th ofjuly. even if everything is under control here, locally in japan, or over, everything is under control here, locally injapan, or over, what about the rest of the world? how can you hold the olympic ‘s when it is going on elsewhere? i think we don't know and there is a huge amount of uncertainty and we are waiting for the ioc

our correspondent rupert wingfield hayes is there.good job of controlling the epidemic here and because of that, the japanese government is saying we're still full stea m government is saying we're still full steam at the 24th ofjuly. the relay, the torch relay, will begin as it is supposed to tweak and it will go on this 100 when he one day relay around the whole of japan —— 121 date relay. they are playing all this to go ahead, but there are many, this to go ahead, but there are any this to go ahead, but there are many, many other voices here, many people i've spoken to, experts, the former mayor of tokyo, who said to me there is very little chance they think it can go ahead as scheduled on the 24th ofjuly because, even if everything is under control here, evenif everything is under control here, even if the epidemic locally here in japan is well under control or over, what about the rest of the world? how can you hold the on the pics when it is still carry on elsewhere? i think we don't know? there is a huge amount of uncertainty.

admitted the games may have to be postponed because of the pandemic. 0ur correspondent in tokyo rupert wingfield hayesada's move is a potential game—changer. i think it's really interesting that canada has now come out and explicitly said it will not send a team to the tokyo 0lympics and paralympics this year. that, as far as i'm aware, is the first country to do that. the australians, as you said, have followed saying it can't happen. this could start a chain reaction and prime minister abe this morning in parliament said a postponement was under consideration if the games can't be held safely and that he'd been discussing that with the ioc over the weekend. he said, no decision will be made for four weeks from now and the governor of tokyo has come out and said the same thing — four weeks unitl a decision is made. i think the action by canada and australia show that four weeks is too long and that there is possibly now going to be a chain reaction of countries following canada. and this may be forced onjapan and the ioc much more quickly than they think. it's strange, almost every other major sporti

with the latest, here's our tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield hayes japan seems to be doing quiteolling the epidemic here and because of that, the japanese government is saying, look, we are still full stea m government is saying, look, we are still full steam ahead for the 24th ofjuly. the torch relay will begin, as it is supposed to, next week and it will go on there is day relay around the whole of japan. they are still planning for all of this to go ahead, but i have to say there are many other voices here, many people as they can do, both expert, former government officials, the former governor of tokyo, who said to me, there is very little chance they think now that it can go ahead as planned on the 24th ofjuly because evenif planned on the 24th ofjuly because even if everything is under control here and even if the pandemic locally here injapan is well under control all over, what about the rest of the world? how can you hold the olympics when it is still carrying on elsewhere? so i think we don't know. there is a huge amount of uncertainty, we are waiting for both the ioc

rupert wingfield hayes is our tokyo correspondent.y shinzo abe saying publicly that it may have to be postponed. absolutely, we were talking about this last week, and saying that many people here in tokyo were already saying, experts and former government officials, the former governor of tokyo who i interviewed last week that it is going to have to be postponed. government isjust in denial. for the first time today the prime minister shinzo abe has said that a postponement is on the cards. he said he talked to the international olympic committee after their meeting yesterday, and that they had discussed contingency plans for postponing the games as a whole, until next year. but he said a decision would not be made for at least four weeks. the ioc is saying the same, as you said in your introduction, australia and canada are not waiting, they said they are pulling their teams out if it goes ahead this summer. australia said it cannot be held this year, i think that is just going to pile the pressure on, it shows countries are not will

well earlier we spoke to our tokyo correspondent, rupert wingfield hayes and asked him what the moodsjapanese people. an opinion poll published this morning ofjapanese people said a 69% think the games that should be postponed by a year. most people obviously do not want it to be cancelled completely, so a postponement is the thing. i spoke to an athlete training, a surfer training for the olympics here last week and she said very much the same. she said, look, the olympics is a dream for all of us. we want that dream to take place in an atmosphere that is fun, that is exciting, that is safe for everybody and at the moment, that isn't the case. she was also saying, look, postponement is probably the best thing to do. the national rugby league in australia has been suspended until at least the 1st may. the league season only began on 12th march and had been running behind closed doors. obviously, disappointing. we were wanting to keep the competition alive and the games being played. it would be behind closed doors but i think the bosses have come to a decision where it is the health a

rupert wingfield hayes is our tokyo correspondent.ralia have made their opinions clear. it seems no matter what japan and that the ioc might want, the decisions seem to be made by athletes in competing nations. i think it is really interesting that canada has now come out and explicitly said it will not send a team to the tokyo 0lympics will not send a team to the tokyo olympics and paralympic this year. as far as i'm aware, thatis this year. as far as i'm aware, that is the first country to do that. the australians, as you said, have followed saying it can't happen. this could start a chain reaction and and prime minister shinzo abe this morning in parliament set a postponement was under consideration if the games can't be held safely and that he been discussing that with the ioc over the weekend. he said, no decision will be made forfour said, no decision will be made for four weeks from now and the governor of tokyo has come out and said the same thing, four weeks to a decision is made. i think the action by canada and australia sh

with the latest, here's our tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield hayes.apanese government is saying we are full steam ahead for the 24th ofjuly. the torch relay will begin as it is supposed to next week and it will go on this 121 day relay around the whole of japan. still planning for all of this to go ahead but there are many other voices here. many people i have spoken to — experts — the former governor of tokyo said to me there is very little chance they think now it can go ahead as scheduled on the 24th ofjuly because even if everything is under control here and even if the epidemic here is under control what about the rest of the world? how can you carry on with the olympics when it is going on elsewhere? there is a huge amount of uncertainty. we are waiting for the ioc and the who and the japanese government to make a decision but they say at the moment it is too early to make that decision and they are going full steam ahead for the opening ceremony. and tom brady — arguably the greatest quarterback in nfl history — has joined the tampa bay buccane

rupert wingfield—hayes has more.ights set on a medal in the first ever olympic surfing contest. at least that was the plan until the virus arrived. translation: right now, i'm afraid. i don't know what's going to happen. the olympics is a dream for me, but we don't want to have a bad olympics, so maybe it's better to have the olympics when the fear has gone. here injapan, you could be forgiven for thinking there is no global pandemic. schools are closed, but apart from that, life is going on pretty much as normal, and it is the same with the olympic games. the japanese government insists it is full steam ahead for the opening ceremony onjuly 24. but there are now some prominent voices here saying that is denying reality. in central tokyo, the brand—new olympic stadium is ready. $30 billion has been spent preparing the city. but the former governor of tokyo says the chances of holding the olympics this year are now tiny. normally, just 10%. unfortunately now. that's it, you know. but cancelled, or postponed, 90%. that

let's go to tokyo now and our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes. ank you for spending time with us on the programme. how has that decision gone down injapan? on the programme. how has that decision gone down injapan?|j on the programme. how has that decision gone down in japan? i think it was absolutely an inevitable decision itjust took longer it was absolutely an inevitable decision it just took longer than was perhaps necessary. i think it has been obvious for some time, at least the last few weeks, that this was coming down the line and the japanese government were clearly relaxed and to take the final step. just on monday the 0lympian committee here —— 0lympic just on monday the 0lympian committee here —— olympic committee here was saying that they were going to ta ke here was saying that they were going to take another month to think over the options and then 24 hours later, the options and then 24 hours later, the ioc and the japanese prime minister came out and said we are postponing it until the end of this year and not longer than the end

let's talk to our correspondent in tokyo, rupert wingfield hayes.course they were told to stay at home for their own safety, because of the global coronavirus pandemic which japan has been affected by, not as badly as europe at the moment. but it is those spreading around japan ata it is those spreading around japan at a much slower rate. we have under 1000 recorded cases so far. japan seems to be doing quite a good job of controlling the epidemic here. because of that the japanese government is saying we are still full steam ahead for the 24th of july. the torch relay will begin as it is supposed to, next week, and it will go on this 121 day relay around the whole of japan. will go on this 121 day relay around the whole ofjapan. they are still planning for all of this to go ahead but there are many other voices here, people i've spoken to, experts, former government officials, the former governor of tokyo who have said they think there's very little chance that it can go ahead as scheduled on 24th of july, because even if everything is under contro

we can talk now to our tokyo correspondent rupett wingfield hayes thank you forjoining us, rupert.fairly soon. an ioc meeting on sunday. they spoke to prime minister shinzo abe overnight. the first time, he has acknowledged the postponement is on the cards. he has said if the olympics cannot be held injuly said if the olympics cannot be held in july safely for the athletes, safely for the spectators, a postponement may have to be considered. however, he and the ioc are both saying they will take four weeks to make a decision about when it could be postponed or moved to. and with her from the head it could be postponed or moved to. and with herfrom the head of it could be postponed or moved to. and with her from the head of the japanese olympic committee just in the last few minutes, giving a press conference, saying they need that time to go through all of the potential different choices. do they postpone a month, a few months or do they postpone a whole year? i have to say a whole year is considered to be, they are going to take this time to discuss that. australia, canada, very e