Ahmet Furkan Mercan
23 December 2020•Update: 23 December 2020
TOKYO
Japan has expanded its budget for the 2020 Olympics to 1.64 trillion yen ($15.8 billion), raising it by $2.8 billion, local news reported.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics' organizing committee announced that the markup in its fifth budget was due to the one-year delay amid novel coronavirus pandemic, increasing the total cost of the games.
The Tokyo Olympics were supposed to take place this July before being postponed, along with other sports events and competitions worldwide, due to the outbreak.
The games have been rescheduled for next July 23-Aug. 8, while the Paralympic Games will take place that Aug. 24-Sept. 5.
Before the postponement, the cost for the Olympics and Paralympics had been set to 1.35 trillion yen in March.
The new budget was hiked to cover expenses for venues, maintenance of the athletes' village, and measures against the virus during the games.
Nearly $930 million or 96 billion yen will be allocated for the COVID-19 measures during the Tokyo 2020 contests.
As part of the anti-virus measures, negative pressure isolation rooms will be installed outside the athletes' village to block infections.
Athletes who test positive will be brought under temporary treatment and their samples will be taken in such facilities.
