FOCUS: Coronavirus threat rises as Japan cheers Olympic gold medal rush
By Junko Horiuchi and Ayano Shimizu,
KYODO NEWS
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4 hours ago - 09:30 | Sports, News, All, Coronavirus
A week since the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, fraught with many difficulties, the gold medal rush of Japanese athletes has lifted the spirits of a public that remains largely worried about staging the multinational sporting event amid a once-in-a-century pandemic.
Behind the festive mood, however, the number of daily coronavirus cases is rising at an alarming rate in Japan, where only around 30 percent of the eligible population were fully vaccinated as of Thursday, when the host city confirmed 3,865 new infections, hitting a record for the third straight day, and the nationwide single-day count topped 10,000 for the first time.