Japan vows safe Olympics, medical experts not so sure visayandailystar.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from visayandailystar.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published February 8, 2021, 2:09 PM
A woman wearing a face mask walks past logos of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo on February 2, 2021. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
Japanese infectious disease specialist Atsuo Hamada wants to see the Olympics happen in Tokyo this summer, but admits if they were being held anywhere else, he’d probably support a cancellation.
“Even without the coronavirus pandemic, the Olympics as a mass gathering fosters all sorts of infectious diseases,” Hamada, a professor at Tokyo Medical University, told AFP.
With less than six months until the pandemic-postponed Games, organisers say they’re confident the event will be safe. But some medical experts aren’t so sure, and think cancellation is safer.
Uncertainty reigns with beleaguered Olympics six months away japantimes.co.jp - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from japantimes.co.jp Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Correspondent
Tokyo’s delayed Olympics and Paralympics are scheduled to begin six months from now, but while authorities insist the events will go on, a surge in coronavirus cases in the capital is prompting many to question whether they can, or should.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, the organizers sold millions of tickets for events, and the capital was readying to welcome spectators from all corners of the globe. The head of the organizing committee, Mori Yoshiro, said on January 12 that he remains committed to holding the Games this summer.
But the number of COVID-19 cases has been surging since last month and Tokyo was already under a state of emergency when he made that vow. One of the measures instituted by the government is an entry ban for all foreigners in principle.
The threat of Japan's hospital system collapsing amid surging coronavirus cases forces Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to expand a state of emergency so it covers about 55 per cent of the country.