The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics must review the possible impact of the Games on Japan’s health care system before deciding whether to continue hosting the Games, said Shigeru Onbei, chairman of the Japanese government’s New Crown Countermeasures Group, on Friday (May 21).
According to Kyodo News, Shigeru also told a meeting of the House of Representatives’ Health, Labor and Welfare Committee that it is the organizers’ “responsibility” to decide whether Japan can actually host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. He added: “You can’t judge until the start of the games”.
The report said that Shigeru Onbei had previously said that strict measures for athletes from before they enter the country would make “the risk of infection manageable”. He believes that it is also important to assess the risk of infection to Olympic-related personnel and spectators outside the venues, and he also called for a study of the impact on domestic medical care.
With two months to go before the expected opening date of the Tokyo Olympics, Japan’s new crown epidemic is once again on the rise, with Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto prefectures in a state of emergency and a shortage of medical resources in some areas.
With a surge of cases in Osaka, hospitals are packed with New Crown patients, and medical staff say every corner of the health care system is slowed and burdened, according to the Associated Press.
About 35,000 people across Japan need to stay home for treatment – twice as many as are hospitalized – and they are often critically ill, sometimes dying before they can even receive medical care.
A Reuters survey found that nearly 70 percent of Japanese companies want the Tokyo Olympics to be canceled or postponed. This underscores concerns that the Games will push up the number of high crown cases with an overburdened health care system.
The survey was commissioned by Reuters and conducted by Nikkei Research Japan (Nikkei Research), about 480 large and medium-sized non-financial companies participated in the survey, about 230 companies answered the Olympic-related questions.
The survey found that 37 percent of companies wanted to cancel the Olympics, while 32 percent wanted to postpone it. One metals company manager said, “The Olympics simply can’t happen in the current situation.”
But there are some who want the Olympics to go ahead as scheduled. Toshihiko Osawa, owner of a traditional candy store in Tokyo, told Reuters he hoped the Olympics would take place and allow domestic spectators to attend.
“If there are no spectators, the athletes won’t feel so nervous and excited,” he said, “and it would be better if there were spectators watching and everyone shouting.”
So far, there is no indication that the Olympics will be canceled. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wrapped up its Olympic preparations discussions with the Tokyo Organizing Committee on Friday, and the IOC also said recently that the Tokyo Games are safe for athletes and host sites.
Olympic Committee official Pound (Richard Pound) recently said in an interview with the Japanese news agency (Jiji Press), the Olympic Games to be held in the decision “before the end of June” to make. He also said that if the Olympics cannot be held this summer, then the Olympics will be cancelled rather than postponed again.
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