An adviser to the government on steps to contain the coronavirus at next year's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics says the public should be prepared to see some spikes in cases as a result of the mass gatherings.
"The Olympics present one the most difficult situations when it comes to infectious disease prevention," Nobuhiko Okabe, who heads the Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health, said in a recent interview.
"It's a cluster of risks, with people gathering from all over the world," the expert on infectious disease control said. "As long as the games are held, we have to make people understand that the number of infections will likely increase."