TOKYO, May 11, (AP): The Tokyo Olympic torch relay is being pulled off the streets in Hiroshima prefecture as COVID-19 cases rise in Japan barely 10 weeks before the opening ceremony. Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki said that a ceremony next week without the relay is likely to still take place. This is at least the sixth change to the relay - from rerouting to cancellation - in the last several weeks. Organizers warned before the relay began that changes and delays were expected in the face of the pandemic. “It is certain there will be no relay on public streets since we are all trying to reduce going out, and how to do the ceremony without the relay on the streets is still being discussed with the organizers,” Yuzaki said Monday.

The relay began on March 25 in northeastern Japan and is to end on July 23 at the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Tokyo and other areas are under a state of emergency until May 31. Japan has attributed about 11,000 deaths to COVID-19, but new cases of the virus and its variants are now increasing in Tokyo and the second largest metropolitan area of Osaka. The relay is heavily sponsored by Toyota and Coca-Cola and has proceeded despite some calls a year ago to cancel it to save money. It involves 10,000 runners crisscrossing Japan with organizers trying to keep crowds off the streets and urging them to maintain social distancing. International Olympic President Thomas Bach was forced this week to call off a trip to Hiroshima to greet the torch, an embarrassing move with the IOC and local organizers saying the Olympics will be “safe and secure” for fans and athletes.

Yuzaki said the cases were rising at such a rapid pace that it could become an emergency situation unless people curbed their activities. On Monday, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that Hyogo and Okayama prefectures will also take the torch relay off public streets. Meanwhile, United States Olympian Rachel Garcia was one of the 12 players chosen in the first Athletes Unlimited softball draft on Monday night. Garcia, a right-handed pitcher for UCLA, is a two-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. She led the Bruins to the national title in 2019. Three Arizona players were chosen - USA Olympic catcher Dejah Mulipola, infielder Jessie Harper and pitcher Alyssa Denham. The players were not selected in a particular order. Other draftees included Washington infielder Sis Bates, Oklahoma pitcher Giselle “G” Juarez, Oklahoma State pitcher Carrie Eberle, Texas outfielder Shannon Rhodes, Minnesota pitcher Amber Fiser, Louisiana-Lafayette outfielder Ciara Bryan, Iowa State infielder Sami Williams and LSU infielder Aliyah Andrews. The athletes can accept the invitation and join contracted returnees and free agents to make up the league’s 60-player roster. Athletes Unlimited will crown an individual champion after games played at Parkway Bank Complex in Rosemont, Illinois, from Aug. 28 to Sept. 27. “We could not be more excited to celebrate these amazing players and their accomplishments over their collegiate careers and hope that they all decide to join the Athletes Unlimited family,” said Gwen Svekis, a member of the Athletes Unlimited Softball Player Executive Committee.