A leading Japanese doctor has warned that holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo, with tens of thousands of people from around the world, could lead to the emergence of an “Olympic” coronavirus strain. 

Dr Naoto Ueyama, head of the Japan Doctors Union, says that the arrival of people from 200 nations and territories for the games, due to begin in eight weeks, could open the door for a new strain.

“All of the different mutant strains of the virus which exist in different places will be concentrated and gathering here in Tokyo. We cannot deny the possibility of even a new strain of the virus potentially emerging,” he told a news conference.

“If such a situation were to arise, it could even mean a Tokyo Olympic strain of the virus being named in this way, which would be a huge tragedy and something which would be the target of criticism, even for 100 years.”