The Canadian Olympic Committee announced that it will not send athletes to the Tokyo Olympic Games, as the International Olympic Committee weighs a decision on whether or not to postpone the event during the COVID-19 pandemic is currently. Meanwhile, the Australian Olympic Committee told athletes to prepare for the Games being delayed by year.

Stocks accelerated their fall in the waning minutes before the markets closed Monday as Wall Street reacted to a White House press conference with President Donald Trump National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Anthony Fauci, and Deborah Birx coronavirus response coordinator for White House coronavirus task force.

 

The task force recommended people limit the size of gatherings to less than 10 people and that non-essential businesses close for at least the next 15 days, but hinted that this could last into July.

 

The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 suffered their worst percentage drop since 1987. The Nasdaq fell more than 12% and the Russell 2000 index of small caps fell 14.3% . All industries were hit on Monday with double-digit percentage losses, including real estate, energy financial, technology and travel. At the close, markets were down:

 

The Dow Jones was down 2,998.97 or 12.93%, to 20,188.52 The Nasdaq was down 970.28 points, or 12.3%, to 6,904.59 The S&P 500 was down 324.95 points, or 11.98%, to 2,386.13

The markets had a rough start in the morning. After the Federal Reserve cut its interest rates to near zero at the urging of the president, all of the indexes posted major losses and for the third time in the past two weeks, the Dow hit its emergency circuit breaker as the market opened; the S&P also halted trades.

 

The Canadian Olympic Committee announced that it will not send athletes to the Tokyo Olympic Games, as the International Olympic Committee weighs a decision on whether or not to postpone the event during the COVID-19 pandemic is currently. Meanwhile, the Australian Olympic Committee told athletes to prepare for the Games being delayed by year.

 

The Canadian and Australian announcements were made after the International Olympic Committee said on Sunday that it will make a decision on whether or not to postpone the games within the next four weeks.

 

In a letter to athletes, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach wrote, “together with all the stakeholders, we have started detailed discussions today to complete our assessment of the rapid development of the worldwide health situation and its impact on the Olympic Games, including a scenario of postponement.”But the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees called on the IOC to postpone the games for one year.

 

“With COVID-19 and the associated risks, it is not safe for our athletes, and the health and safety of their families and broader Canadian community for athletes to continue training towards these games,” they wrote. “In fact, it runs counter to the public health advice which we urge all Canadians to follow.”

In its statement, the Australian Olympics Committee said it “believes our athletes now need to prioritise their own health and of those around them, and to be able to return to their families, in discussion with their National Federations,” especially as travel restrictions are implemented by countries around the world.","Canada and Australia Pull Athletes out of Olympics