The Olympic rings off the shore of the Odaiba Marine Park are illuminated during the Tokyo 2020 Year Commemorative Ceremony in Tokyo on Jan 24, 2020, to mark six months before the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP)

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament the Tokyo 2020 Olympics would not be canceled or postponed despite fears about the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Olympic torch is set to arrive in northern Miyagi prefecture in six weeks, heralding the start of the Games four months later, on July 24. 

I want to make it clear that the Organizing Committee and the International Olympic Committee are not holding any discussions whatsoever about whether or not to hold the Tokyo Games.

Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister

“I want to make it clear that the Organizing Committee and the International Olympic Committee are not holding any discussions whatsoever about whether or not to hold the Tokyo Games,” Abe told parliament Thursday.

Abe threw his weight behind the capital’s bid to stage the Summer Games for the second time, and Japan is relying on the Olympics to help bolster the economy. 

Responding to questions in parliament, Abe said an International Olympic Committee project review meeting next week would not be discussing conditions for actually holding the Olympics. He added that he wanted to work closely with the Japan Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to press ahead with preparations for the event.

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Abe also said Japan will coordinate with the WHO and others "to make sure that preparations for the Olympics and Paralympics will proceed steadily without impact [from the outbreak]," Xinhua reports.

Separately, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported that organizers for the Tokyo Games have assured athletes and fans that there will be "absolutely no cancelation" of the Games.

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The organizers added that "every possible measure" will be taken to mitigate the threat.

Organizers for the Tokyo Games have again assured athlete and fans that there will be "absolutely no cancelation" of the Games, Kyodo News Agency reported

The organizers said they plan to focus countermeasures in two main areas: preventing infection within the organizing committee itself so preparations are not hindered, and preventing and responding to the possible infection of the world's top athletes during the games, Kyodo News Agency reported.

This is the second time in less than a week that Olympic organizers have emphasized their desire to continue to host the Games in spite of the epidemic.

"We have never considered canceling the Games," Tokyo 2020 said in a statement last Friday. "We will work closely with the IOC and other relevant organizations and review any countermeasures whenever necessary."

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Seiko Hashimoto, Japan's Olympics Minister, also expressed her confidence that Tokyo would host a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games in less than six months' time.  

Recent history shows there’s a show-must-go-on mentality when it comes to the Olympics. A public health emergency declared by the World Health Organization over the Zika virus in the months before the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro didn’t lead to a scrapping of the 2016 Games.

The organizers of Tokyo’s annual marathon, set to be held March 1, announced that residents of the Chinese mainland who had difficulty traveling to Japan would be given the option of switching their entry to next year. The capital’s marathon is one of the qualifying events for Japan’s Olympic team.