10,000 Olympic volunteers reportedly quit prior to 2020 Tokyo Games

The report comes amid growing calls to cancel the games.

Around 10,000 of the 80,000 volunteers who signed up to help at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have quit, according to public broadcaster NHK on Wednesday. The report comes amid increasing public calls to cancel the games. Shigeru Omi, Japan's most senior medical adviser, said Wednesday that hosting the games during a pandemic was "not normal," Reuters reported. Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun published a May 2021 survey conducted by telephone in Japan that found 83% of respondents said the Tokyo Olympic Games should be postponed or canceled. More specifically, 43% said the games should be called off and 40% said they should be "postponed again." Only 14% said the Tokyo Olympics should be held this summer, according to the survey.