Virus Worries Rise In Japan As Tokyo Summer Olympic 2020 Approaching
Ask-AnyThing-AnyTime®Wednesday, July 14, 2021
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A number of concerns and controversies arose leading up to the 2020 Summer Olympics, which took place in Tokyo, Japan.
The games were postponed until July 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Olympic Commitee (IOC) stated that their Japanese partners and the prime minister of japan, Shinzo Abe "made it very clear" in 2020, "that Japan could not manage a postponement beyond next summer". Just weeks before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, honorary patron Emperor Naruhito was said to be "extremely worried about the current status of coronavirus infections, "and was "concerned that while there were voices of anxiety among the public, the holding (of the events) may lead to the expansion of infections".
There were allegations of bribery in the Japanese Olympic Committee's (JOC) bid for the games, of plagiarism in the initial design for the games' logo, and of illegal overwork by dozens of companies involved in construction for the games. Notable safety concerns for athletes included radiation levels from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, water quality, and expected heat levels. Political controversies included the use of maps showing disputed territories as part of Japan, and a refusal to ban the Rising Sun Flag at Olympic venues.
The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic was a concern for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which will took place at the end of July 2021. Due to the Olympics, the Japanese government took extra precautions to help control the country's ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks. The Tokyo organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee were closely monitoring COVID-19 cases in Tokyo leading up to the Olympics in order to determine if the games could be held safely.
Leading up to the Olympics, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare provided vaccinations for the large portions of the Japanese population still unprotected from common infectious diseases. For example, Japan has no mandatory mumps vaccination and is fourth in the world in mumps cases, after China, Nepal and Burkina Faso, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Following the outbreaks of rubella in Japan, which prompted the Centers for Disese Control and Prevention (CDC) to warn pregnant women of travel to Japan in 2018, the country's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare conducted inoculation of middle-aged men who did not receive a rubella vaccination in the 1970s and 1980s.
Due to the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 pandemic across Europe, Africa and the Americas, the Summer Olympics were postponed to 2021, still being held in Tokyo.
There was speculation that the Japanese government was repressing the extent of the infection to make sure that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games would be held on schedule. Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama suggested that the number of confirmed cases was downplayed by the Japanese government in order to preserve the Olympics as scheduled, adding that Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike put the 2020 Olympics first rather than Tokyo citizens first.The country saw a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases after the postponement was announced, but health minister Katsunobu Kato denied the rumour that the postponement of the Olympics was tied to the spike in confirmed cases.
A poll conducted prior to the beginning of the Olympics reported that 83% of Japanese people were in favour of the cancellation of the games. However, Japan's Prime Minister did not allow the public to influence the government's decision of whether or not the games should be held.