By AYAKO NAKADA/ Staff Writer
October 23, 2020 at 17:30 JST
The Tokyo Dome in February (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The massive Tokyo Dome baseball stadium in the capital's Bunkyo Ward will be filled to up to 80 percent of its 42,000-seating capacity for two days in early November to test the effectiveness of measures against the new coronavirus pandemic.
The venue, the home field of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team, is also used for live music concerts.
Under current government standards against the pandemic, stadiums are only allowed to be filled to 50-percent capacity. But this will be waived for the trial tests to be conducted Nov. 7 and 8 when the Yomiuri Giants play against the Yakult Swallows.
The proposal was to be formally presented Oct. 23 to a government subcommittee made of infectious disease experts.
After hearing their opinions, the government intends to gauge the effectiveness of measures against COVID-19 in a situation where the number of spectators exceeds the current limit.
It will use the data to decide whether to relax the restriction further.
A preliminary trial run involving large-scale tests will be held at Yokohama Stadium, also a venue for professional baseball, for three days from Oct. 30.
The government currently requires business operators to limit visitors to up to 50 percent of a venue’s capacity for events that can accommodate more than 10,000 people.
At games in the Tokyo Dome, the management of the Yomiuri Giants restricts spectators to up to 45 percent of the stadium’s capacity, or 19,000 people.
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