Japan extends emergency Covid rules less than two months before Olympics

Japan has extended emergency coronavirus measures in Tokyo and several other regions as the country struggles to rein in the latest wave of infections less than two months before the Olympics.

The state of emergency – the third in the capital since the start of the pandemic – was called in late April and due to end on May 11th but was extended until the end of this month, as restrictions on businesses failed to make a dent in infections.

The latest extension is scheduled to end on June 20th, little over a month before the Olympics are due to begin.

The number of infections have fallen in Tokyo in recent days, but the daily caseload is still too high to justify an end to the measures, according to medical experts, while hospitals are contending with a record number of critically ill patients.

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There is also evidence that people are lowering their guard after weeks of restrictions, according to the economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is overseeing the country's Covid response.

The president of the Olympic organising committee, Seiko Hashimoto, on Friday hinted that barring local fans from the Games was under consideration. Overseas spectators have already been banned and a decision on whether to allow Japanese citizens to watch events is expected next month.

“There are many people who are saying that for the Olympic Games we have to run without spectators, although other sports are accepting them,” Hashimoto said. “So we need to keep that in mind. We need to avoid that the local medical services are affected. We need to take those things into consideration before agreeing on the spectator count.”

The prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, approved the extension in Tokyo, Osaka and seven other prefectures after meeting government health experts."

While Japanese authorities do not have the legal powers to impose European-style lockdowns, the measures in place are the toughest yet. Restaurants and bars face fines if they refuse to stop serving alcohol or to close at 8pm. A cap on attendance at sports events and concerts and requests for people to avoid unnecessary outings and travel will also stay in place.

Japan has recorded about 735,000 Covid-19 infections and 12,759 deaths – one of the worst death tolls in the region. Only 2.3 per cent of its population has been fully vaccinated since its troubled roll-out began in mid-February, and most people will still be unprotected during the Olympics.

Tokyo reported 684 cases on Thursday, 159 fewer than a week earlier, and 11 deaths, metropolitan health officials said, but the head of the Tokyo Medical Association, Haruo Ozaki, said daily cases in the city needed to be brought to below 100 to prevent another surge during the Olympics.

“I believe there is a need to extend the state of emergency until that figure is reached,” Ozaki told reporters this week, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. “Unless the figure is brought down to that level, there will be a major rebound in new cases in July and August, when the Olympics are to be held.”

Signs that more contagious variants are spreading in Japan, coupled with vaccination delays and pressure on medical staff, have triggered calls for the Tokyo 2020 Games to be cancelled. The government, organisers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, say every precaution has been taken to ensure a “safe and secure” Games.

The IOC has vowed to go ahead with the event even if the host city is still covered by emergency restrictions. In an interview this week, Dick Pound, a senior IOC member, said: "Organisers have now changed gears and they're in the operational part of it. Barring Armageddon that we can't see or anticipate, these things are a go."

This week, the head of a doctors’ union in Japan warned that the Games, due to open on July 23rd, could lead to the spread of Covid-19 variants.

Naoto Ueyama, the chair of the Japan Doctors Union, said the IOC and the Japanese government had underestimated the risks of allowing 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes from more than 200 countries – as well as about 80,000 officials, journalists and support staff – to enter Japan this summer.

“All of the different mutant strains of the virus which exist in different places will be concentrated and gathering here in Tokyo,” said Ueyama, who works at a hospital near Tokyo. “We cannot deny the possibility of even a new strain of the virus potentially emerging.

“If such a situation were to arise, it could even mean a Tokyo Olympic strain of the virus being named in this way, which would be a huge tragedy and something which would be the target of criticism, even for 100 years.”

A recent commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine said the IOC’s determination to proceed with the Games was “not informed by the best scientific evidence”.

The journal said IOC “playbooks” spelling out restrictions covering athletes, journalists and Olympic staff were “not built on scientifically rigorous risk assessment, and . . . fail to consider the ways in which exposure occurs, the factors that contribute to exposure, and which participants may be at highest risk”. – Guardian