Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters on Tuesday that he had asked for the International Olympic Committee to delay the Tokyo Olympics for one year because of the spread of the novel coronavirus around the world.

Abe spoke with the International Olympic Committee’s president, Thomas Bach as questions have dogged the organizing body about whether it should cancel or delay the Games, which were set to begin on July 24, as the number of cases of coronavirus continues to rise around the world.