Speaking to lawmakers on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said postponing the 2020 Summer Olympics is a possibility.
This is the first time Abe has changed his staunch public position that the Olympics will start July 24 as scheduled.
In recent days, a growing number of countries and athletes have called for the games to be postponed, while Canada said today it will not send any teams.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) responded Sunday, saying a final decision on postponement will be made within four weeks, due to the vast complexities of rescheduling a massive global sporting event like the Olympics.
“The IOC’s decision is along the lines of what I said before, of holding the event in its complete form. If that becomes difficult -- and thinking first about the health of the athletes -- we may have no option but to consider postponing the Games," Abe said, speaking at the budget committee in Japan’s upper house of parliament.
Canada won't be sending teams to the Olympics this year.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) are also calling for the games to be postponed by one year.
Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Sunday that she is ordering the Washington, DC, National Guard to work with police to restrict pedestrian access to areas where crowds have been flocking to view the cherry blossoms, which are in peak bloom, according to a news release from the mayor’s office.
The mayor says the road closures and restrictions around the Tidal Basin, including the Jefferson Memorial, "will continue until further notice to ensure social distancing and prevent further community transmission of COVID-19."
As a result, the festival tweeted they opened a virtual tour for those wanting to see the cherry blossoms.
The government of Italy has made a direct appeal to Defense Secretary Mark Esper for US military aid in combating coronavirus, according to a US defense official.
Specifically, Italy's defense minister has asked Esper for critical medical equipment like masks and ventilators as Italy has nearly 60,000 confirmed cases and has had more than 5,000 deaths. The Italian government has requested that US military personnel stationed in Italy assist Italian authorities by providing medical personnel and field hospitals in support of Italian troops already responding to the crisis there.
Esper recently made the Defense Department’s stockpile of masks and ventilators available to civilian hospitals in the US to help respond to the pandemic. The military has activated units capable of constructing field hospitals to help relieve the burden on civilian hospitals.
The Italian plea for assistance from its NATO ally comes as the Russian military has made a very public effort to provide the Italians with assistance, using military aircraft to fly in medical personnel and equipment.
Retired South African swimmer Cameron van der Burgh, the 2012 Olympic 100-meter breaststroke champion, says he has coronavirus.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, the 31-year-old discussed dealing with the illness, calling it "by far the worst virus I have ever endured."
Van der Burgh retired from swimming in 2018.
President Donald Trump approved California's request for a disaster declaration Sunday, according to a White House news release.
The declaration means the state can receive federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts to areas affected by the coronavirus outbreak, the release said. It also provides federal funding for crisis counseling for all those affected in California.
President Donald Trump said Sunday he is considering an executive order to free elderly "totally nonviolent" federal prisoners.
"We have been asked about that, and we're going to take a look at it. It's a bit of a problem. But when we talk about totally nonviolent, we're talking about these are totally nonviolent prisoners, we're actually looking at that, yes," Trump told reporters at a White House news conference.
Several states, including California, New York, Ohio and Texas, and New York City have started releasing low-level offenders as well as those who are elderly or sick because of the virus.
The number of coronavirus deaths in Ecuador doubled between Saturday and Sunday, according the country’s health ministry.
The ministry reported 14 coronavirus deaths Sunday, up from seven Saturday.
Ecuador’s health ministry reported the number of positive cases more than tripled in a one-week span. On Sunday, the health ministry reported 789 confirmed cases of the virus. At the beginning of the week, the government had reported 58 confirmed cases.