World's oldest person pulls out of Olympic torch relay

Kane Tanaka

The world's oldest person, a Japanese woman aged 118, has given up her spot in the Olympic torch relay due to a surge in Covid-19 cases across the country. Kane Tanaka from Fukuoka in southern Japan had been planning to use a wheelchair to carry the torch when it passes through the city on Tuesday. But her family said in a statement obtained by AFP on Friday that Tanaka would no longer participate because ‘the spread of the coronavirus has not been contained’. The government on Friday extended a virus state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas, and also imposed the restrictions in Fukuoka and one other region.