Tokyo Doctors Call for Olympics to Be Cancelled over COVID Surge
SPORTS, 24 May 2021
Al Jazeera News - TRANSCEND Media Service
Doctors group says hospitals in Tokyo are already overwhelmed and ‘have almost no spare capacity’.
People take part in a protest against the hosting of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Tokyo on May 17, 2021 [Charly Triballeau/ AFP]
In an open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, dated May 14 and posted online on Monday, the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association said hospitals in the host city “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity”.
“We strongly request that the authorities convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games,” the letter said.
The association, which represents about 6,000 primary care doctors, made the appeal amid a jump in infections that has resulted in a shortage of hospital beds in some parts of the Japanese capital and stoked alarm across the country.
Suga on Friday extended a third state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures until May 31.
But the prime minister said that holding a “safe and secure” Olympic games was possible if tight preventive measures were implemented, including actions that would keep ordinary Japanese from coming into contact with those arriving in connection with the Games.
A majority of the Japanese public, however, oppose hosting the Olympics this year.
A weekend poll by the Asahi Shimbun daily found that 43 percent of people surveyed want the Games cancelled, while 40 percent want a further postponement.
Those figures are up from the 35 percent who backed cancellation in a survey by the paper a month ago and the 34 percent who wanted a further delay.
Meanwhile, an online petition with more than 350,000 signatures calling for the Tokyo Games to be cancelled was also submitted Friday to local organizers, the IOC and others.
The Tokyo Medical Practitioner’s Association, in its letter, said medical institutions dealing with COVID-19 would soon face the added difficulty of dealing with heat exhaustion in patients during the summer months.
And if the Olympics contributed to a rise in deaths, it said, “Japan will bear the maximum responsibility.”
Other health experts and medical groups have voiced their concerns over the Olympics, with Kyoto University professor Hiroshi Nishiura – an adviser to the government’s pandemic response – urging authorities in April to postpone the Olympics for a further year to allow more time to vaccinate the public.
Overall, Japan has avoided an explosive spread of the virus experienced by other nations, with 11,500 deaths recorded since the pandemic began.
But the government has come under sharp criticism for its sluggish vaccination rollout. So far, only about 3.5 percent of its population of about 126 million have received at least one vaccine shot.
Underscoring the challenges with the vaccinations, booking systems for mass inoculation sites being launched in Tokyo and Osaka – which started accepting bookings on Monday – were marred by technical glitches.
Tags: COVID-19, Coronavirus, Japan, Olympics, Pandemic, Sports, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Tokyo Olympics
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.