The Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower are illuminated with Olympic colors to mark the 100-day countdown to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which has been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan, April 14 2021. REUTERS / Issei Kato
Japan’s inability to contain the COVID-19 pandemic means plans to hold the Tokyo Olympics need to be reconsidered, health experts wrote in a comment.
The 2020 Games, which have been delayed for a year, will begin in less than 100 days, even as Japan extends quasi-emergency measures to stop a fourth wave of infections. read more
According to comments published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal, Japan has shown “poor performance” in fighting virus transmission, along with limited testing capacity and slow vaccine roll-out.
“Plans to hold the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer need to be urgently reconsidered,” wrote lead author Kazuki Shimizu of the London School of Economics.
“Keeping Tokyo 2020 for domestic political and economic purposes – ignoring scientific and moral imperatives – contradicts Japan’s commitment to global health and human security.”
The comment adds to doubts among medical professionals that the Olympics can be held safely this summer. A survey of more than 1,000 Japanese doctors last month showed that 75% believed it was better to postpone the Games, according to referral company Ishinotomo.
Hiroshi Nishiura, a professor at Kyoto University, adviser to the government’s pandemic response, urged in a magazine this week that authorities postpone the Olympics for a year to have more time to vaccinate the public.
Japan started its vaccination boost in February, later than most major economies. So far, only 0.9% of the Japanese audience has received their first recording, compared to 2.5% in South Korea and 48% in the UK.
Olympic and government officials have said that further postponement of the Games is out of the question.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday that the government would do “everything possible” to prevent further contamination ahead of the Games, after an official from the ruling party said canceling the event remained an option. read more
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