Tokyo 2020 not planning to restart Olympic flame display

TOKYO - The organizers of the Tokyo Olympic Games have no plans to restart the Olympic flame display or other mass participation events.

Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya told a press conference on Wednesday, "We have no particular timing to start our events gathering a certain number of people."

The Olympic flame has been kept in a secure location in Tokyo after the public display in Fukushima was suspended in March.

According to a roadmap approved by the IOC two weeks ago, the postponed test events will be restarted in March 2021 and the Olympic torch relay held from March to July.

Takaya said he was very much "encouraged" to see that Japan's professional baseball league has started, and the country's J-League football competitions will also resume this weekend.

"We will have to carefully monitor the situation," he said, adding that Tokyo 2020 does not have any "concrete" plans.

Japan lifted its state of emergency on May 25 but Tokyo has still seen new cases every day since then.

Japanese broadcaster NHK said that a total of 55 new cases were confirmed on Wednesday in the Japanese capital.

It's the first time since May 5 that the daily figure topped 50. The figure is also the largest since May 25.