Olympics thrown into further doubt as Japan declare state of emergency to combat Covid-19

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Yuichi Yamazaki/Pool via REUTERS

Sean McGoldrick

April 23 2021 04:03 PM

A new state of emergency has been declared in Tokyo to control a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Japanese Prime Minster Yoshihide Suga said the new lockdown would be in force from Sunday until May 11 in Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures. It includes some of the strongest measures yet taken in Japan to control the spread of the virus.

The Prime Minister said the country needs to take strong action as it heads into several holidays in late April and early May known as ‘Golden Week’, which is a peak travel season in the country.

Bars and restaurants have been instructed to stop serving alcohol and the government are also seeking to ban fans from attending sporting events.

The decision comes less than 100 days before the start of the summer Olympics. Another concern is that the country’s vaccination programme has covered less than two per cent of the country’s 126 million people.

Under existing restrictions, bars and restaurants in major urban areas must close by 8pm. But this proved insufficient to stem infections, which have seen record figures this month in Osaka and reached levels in Tokyo not seen since January, when the capital was under its second state of emergency.

The Prime Minister told a press conference that he will implement policies to stage a safe Olympics. But there are fears in Japan that the games could become a super-spreader event. According to a recent opinion poll, 73 per cent of respondents were against holding the Olympics this summer.

However, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the emergency declaration was not related to the Olympics. He is due to visit Japan on May 17-18.

There is no law that prohibits the Olympics from taking place during an emergency, but it would almost certainly mean that the number of spectators allowed attend events would be significantly reduced. Already, all overseas fans have been banned from the country during the games.