The Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee said they could suspend the upcoming torch relay should big gatherings raise coronavirus infection risks, asking spectators to support by clapping, Reuters reported.

The toned-down torch relay, which will begin on March 25 and travel through Japan, will be broadcast live to avoid gatherings on streets, Yukihiko Nunomura, senior executive at Tokyo 2020, told a media briefing.

He said the organisers had put off a decision whether to proceed with the relay in Tochigi prefecture, initially scheduled for late March, because the prefecture has called for unnecessary outdoor activities to be scrapped amid the pandemic.