Tokyo 2020 CEO says Tokyo Olympics will create a model for Games to be held during a pandemic

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto says the Tokyo Olympics will serve as a model on how the Olympics can be hosted during a pandemic.

Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics have agreed to hold the event without spectators under a COVID-19 state of emergency.

The Tokyo Olympics will provide a model for hosting the Games during a pandemic after rising COVID-19 infections forced organisers to ban spectators at most events, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said on Sunday.

"This will be the first Olympics held during a pandemic, and Tokyo will provide a model for how that is done," Muto said on a political debate program aired by public broadcaster NHK .

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Athletes will not have to compete in completely empty venues because Olympic officials and journalists will be there, he added.

Organisers on Thursday there would be no spectators in host city Tokyo as a resurgent coronavirus forced Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the Games. Most events outside Tokyo will also take place without spectators.

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Speaking on the same program as Muto, chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato and the country's top health adviser, Shigeru Omi, urged people stay home during the games.

"We would ask people to support athletes from home," Kato said.