With the Tokyo Olympics just about 50 days away, questions loom: What does Japan’s COVID spike mean? Will athletes be vaccinated in time? Have any countries withdrawn? Here’s the latest.
The opening ceremonies for the Tokyo Olympics are just about 50 days away, and despite Japan’s battle against a fourth wave of COVID-19, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 organising committee are adamant the Games will go ahead. Here’s where it all stands ahead of what promises to be a turbulent few weeks in the lead-up to the delayed Olympics. To date Japan has reported about 750,000 COVID cases, and more than 13,000 deaths, with a rate of about 600 cases per 100,000 people. (The U.S., for comparison, ranks first in the world with 33.3 million reported cases, nearly 600,000 deaths, and a rate above 10,000 cases per 100,000 people.) Japan’s cases are now declining after a surge in mid-May that saw more than 7,000 new daily cases reported. On Thursday,3,061 confirmed cases were reported. Tokyo and nine other prefectures were placed in a state of emergency in mid-April. These measures were originally meant to last until mid-May, but Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has continued to extend these restrictions, most recently until June 20. “The number of newly infected people nationwide has started to decrease since the middle of this month,” Suga said at a news conference on May 28. “However, the situation is still unpredictable.” These new measures — an escalation from the previous “quasi-emergency measures” — have seen restaurants and bars closed and sporting events held with a maximum of 5,000 spectators. Despite these emergency protocols, IOC vice president John Coates said the Games would go ahead even if Tokyo remained with the same restrictions. “We’ve successfully seen five sports hold their test events during the state of emergency,” Coates said. “All of the plans that we have in place to protect the safety and security of athletes and the people of Japan are based around the worst possible circumstances, so the answer is absolutely yes [the Games can go ahead].” There are notes of caution emanating from the experts. Tokyo Medical Association chairman Haruo Ozaki said on his Facebook page that in his position as “head of the medical workers, I have to say that holding the Games is really difficult.” An editorial in the British Medical Journal titled “Reconsider this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games” said: “While the determination is encouraging, there has been a lack of transparency about the benefits and risk, and international mass gathering events such as Tokyo 2020 are still neither safe nor secure.” And the public is less than convinced the Games should go ahead.
