IOC chief: Olympic preparations at 'full steam' – but WHO not so sure  

As the International Olympic Committee (IOC) started a crucial executive board meeting on Tuesday to discuss the threat of COVID-19 to the Tokyo Olympics, president Thomas Bach pledged success – but not all authorities are quite so sure the Games will go ahead as planned. 

Explaining that the IOC had been consulting with a "task force" including the World Health Organization (WHO), the host city of Tokyo and the Japanese government, Bach said he would like to "encourage all the athletes to continue their preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with great confidence and with full steam."

However, in a later briefing, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus maintained a notably more careful approach to the viability of staging the Olympics in July as planned: "I think deciding now would be too early, it would be good to monitor the situation."

Earlier, Japan's Olympics minister had mentioned the contractual possibility of holding the Games later in the calendar year – but Bach remained upbeat about them starting on time. 

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