According to a poll, 68 percent of respondents doubted Olympic organisers’ abilities to contain coronavirus infections, with 55 percent opposing the Games.
Public anxiety has risen as COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, which is in its fourth state of emergency, have increased, raising fears that holding an event with tens of thousands of foreign athletes, officials, and media may accelerate infection rates and bring deadly variants.
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68% of respondents to the poll expressed doubts about the ability of Olympic games organizers to control coronavirus infections, with 55% opposed the games.
75 percent of the 1,444 respondents to a telephone survey agreed with a decision to prohibit spectators from sporting events.
As cases of covid-19 rising in Tokyo, which remains in a state of emergency, public concern is growing that hosting an international sports event with tens of thousands of athletes from all over the world, as well as officials and journalists, may speed up the transmission of the coronavirus in Tokyo and introduce new variant strains of the virus, possibly more contagious or fatal.
On Sunday, Games authorities confirmed the first incidence of COVID-19 among competitors in Tokyo’s athletes’ village, where 11,000 participants are scheduled to reside during the Games. Since July 2, 58 positive instances have been recorded among athletes, officials, and media, according to Tokyo 2020 organisers.
Six British track and field athletes and two staff members were compelled to isolate on Sunday when a passenger on their aircraft to Japan tested positive for COVID-19.
Many athletes may have parties or ceremonies before they go to Tokyo where there may be cheering or greeting. So they may also have a risk to get infected in their own countries
Koji Wada, a professor at Tokyo’s International University of Health and Welfare and a government advisor on the coronavirus response, agreed.
The most recent spike of cases in Tokyo follows four previous waves, the worst of which occurred in January. On Saturday, there were 1,410 new COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, the highest since the beginning of the year, with new infections surpassing 1,000 for five days in a row.
The majority of the new cases are among younger individuals, since Japan has succeeded in vaccinating the majority of its susceptible old population with at least one shot, despite the fact that just 32% of the total population has gotten one.
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As the Olympics approaching, Tokyo has implemented road traffic limits, allocating designated lanes for Olympic officials, athletes, and media travelling between venues.
Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images
