Japan will make utmost efforts to keep virus from affecting Olympic Games - PM Abe

Fireworks light up the sky near the illuminated Olympic rings at a ceremony to mark six months before the start of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo January 24, 2020. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS -

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that the government will keep in close touch with all relevant groups to ensure a virus outbreak does not have affect the Summer Olympics.

Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organisers are not considering cancelling the Olympics, which start on July 24.

"We will keep in close contact with everybody, including the International Olympic Committee and the World Health Organization, to take appropriate steps and keep the coronavirus from affecting the Olympics," Abe told a parliamentary committee.

Visitors wearing surgical masks attend the opening ceremony of the Ariake Arena, which will host volleyball and wheelchair basketball competitions in Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan February 2, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

The death toll from the coronavirus epidemic in China rose to 361 on Monday and a growing number of countries are reporting cases. Japan has 20 confirmed cases, 17 of which were people who had been to China or are Chinese.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Kim Coghill)