On Friday, May 22, International Olympic Committee (IOC) VP said that Tokyo Olympics will be held despite the host city is clearly under a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 virus. “All the measures we are undertaking will ensure a safe Games regardless of whether there is a state of emergency or not,” John Coates, IOC Vice President and in-charge of preparations briefed news reporters.
Coates added that the most important task at hand is to give the athletes “chance to complete”, provided that it can “protect the Japanese public.”
Olympic Organisers nod a ‘go ahead’ despite criticisms and warnings
With the Friday’s announcement, it became all the clearer that the IOC will be held no matter what.
“I can say it’s now clearer than ever that these Games would be safe for everyone participating and, importantly, safe for the people of Japan. After eight years of hard work and planning, the finish line is within touching distance,”
-said the IOC VP.
This decision comes after clouds of suspicion had gathered over whether or not the international sporting event will be held. While opposition in the country is wide and warnings from the healthcare experts are loud, the country is ready to host thousands of athletes from across the world along with journalists, support staff and other officials.
According to a report from The Guardian, a public poll concluded that 83% of the country’s population wants the event to be postponed or called off.
Low vaccination rate raises concerns
According to Nikkei, a business newspaper from Tokyo, only 4.1% of the total population has received the first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine. This is the lowest percentage when compared with other advanced countries. Further, only 30% of the country’s healthcare workers are completely vaccinated.
Due to this drastically low rate of vaccination, President of Tokyo Olympics Seiko Hashimoto said that only 230 doctors and 310 nurses would be called during the Olympics in a day. Seiko also added that the authorities have cut down the number of reporters, officials and other support staff from 1,80,000 to only 78,000.
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Tokyo’s ‘State of Emergency’
Currently Tokyo and 9 other islands in Japan are under the ‘state of emergency’ that was imposed by the Japanese govt. This state of emergency includes a complete ban on alcohol at bars, closure of restaurants by 8 PM and voluntary cut down on non-essential travels. This state of emergency will continue to stay in effect till May 31. However, health care experts and epidemiologists have highlighted the fact that although the daily cases are lower than before, it does not justify a complete relaxation in restrictions.
148 Olympic-bound Indian athletes get first jab
As many as 148 Indian athletes who have qualified and are scheduled to attend the Tokyo Olympics have gotten their 1st jab of COVID-19 vaccine. This confirmation came recently by the Indian Olympic Association. The alarming concern is that only 17 athletes have gotten both the doses.
The topsy-turvy journey of Tokyo Olympics so far
The journey of the Tokyo Olympics so far has been rocky to say the least. There have been several warnings issued of cancelation of the sporting event. Earlier, over 2,00,000 people signed a Change.org petition titled ‘Cancel the Tokyo Olympics to Protect Our Lives’.
Recently, Shigeru Omi, the head of Japan’s govt COVID-19 advisory committee told the officials that IOC must consider the consequences holding the Games can have on Japan’s medical infrastructure.
Since the torch relay, an event which kicks off the countdown to the beginning of the Games, the preparations have met with critical responses and multiple disruptions.
Several countries such as Norway, Canada, and more have called for postponement of the event. Meanwhile, the Canadian swimming team pulled out from the training camp over the COVID-19 fears.
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