Tokyo 2020 'Flame of Recovery' tour scaled down due to coronavirus worries

FILE PHOTO: Olympics - Olympic Flame - Panathenaic Stadium, Athens, Greece - March 14, 2020 The Japanese national flag waves next to an altar with the Olympic flame of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, following the cancellation of the torch relay as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo 2020's Flame of Recovery tour, taking the Olympic flame to parts of Japan most affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, has been scaled back as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, organisers said.

The six day tour was set to begin on Friday, and takes place before the official torch relay begins on March 26. It will visit locations in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures, the areas hardest hit by the disaster.