東京五輪１年延期も　新型コロナ感染拡大で―トランプ氏

　【ワシントン時事】トランプ米大統領は１２日、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大をめぐり、東京五輪について「１年間延期すればよいかもしれない」と指摘した。ホワイトハウスで記者団に「（延期になれば）残念だ」と述べた上で、「無観客の競技場で実施するよりはよい」とも語った。
　トランプ氏はこれまで、五輪開催の是非は「安倍晋三首相に任せる。会場はとても素晴らしく（中止になれば）非常に悲しいことだ」などと述べていた。
　また、トランプ氏は１１日に発表した英国を除く欧州諸国からの米国入国禁止について、迅速に実行に移す必要があり欧州側と相談できなかったと釈明した。（2020/03/13-01:13）

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games may be delayed for one year due to the ongoing spread of the new coronavirus in Japan and elsewhere in the world.
   "This is just my idea--maybe they postpone it for a year," he told reporters at the White House. "Maybe they do that, if that's possible."
   "I like that better than I like having empty stadiums all over the place," Trump said. "I think if you cancel it, make it a year later, that's a better alternative than doing it with no crowd."
   The Tokyo Olympics are slated to be held between late July and early August. While Japan continues to see a rise in the number of infections with the new coronavirus, which originated in China, the World Health Organization said Wednesday that the global coronavirus outbreak can be characterized as a pandemic.
   Earlier this month, Trump said that he will leave a decision on whether to hold the Olympics as planned or cancel the games to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "It's a sad thing" if the event is called off, because the Olympic venues are beautiful and incredible, he also said at the time.