London can host 2020 Olympics if coronavirus disrupts Tokyo plans, mayoral candidate says
A London mayoral candidate says the city can host the 2020 Summer Olympics.
"We have the infrastructure and the experience. And due to the #coronavirus outbreak, the world might need us to step up," Shaun Bailey, the mayoral candidate for the Conservative Party, said in a tweet Wednesday.
A spokesperson for London Mayor Sadiq Khan told CBS News in a statement they're willing to do it if the "unlikely" opportunity presents itself. "Everyone is working towards what will be a fantastic Tokyo games. In the unlikely event that it is required, London, as it has done throughout history, will do its best to step up to the plate."
Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympics organizers have said they're worried about disruptions caused by the virus before the games, which are scheduled to open in late July, The Associated Press reported. They've set up a task force to coordinate with public health authorities, Reuters reported.
Earlier this week, the 2020 Tokyo Marathon limited the event to only a few hundred elite participants due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to CBS Sports.
There are now tens of thousands of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus globally and more than 2,000 deaths — most of them in mainland China. Other deaths have been reported in countries including Japan.
Two elderly passengers taken off the Diamond Princess -- the cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan -- because they were infected with the new coronavirus have died, Japan's Health Ministry said Thursday, making them the first fatalities from the virus-stricken vessel. Japan's NHK public television said both were Japanese and in their 80s.
