Olympics
Tokyo's daily COVID-19 cases top 1,000 for 3rd straight day, just a week before Olympics
The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 1,271 new daily COVID-19 cases on Friday, topping 1,000 for the third straight day just a week before the Tokyo Olympics start.
The figure in the capital, which is currently under a fourth COVID-19 state of emergency amid a resurgence of infections, hit 1,308 on Thursday, its highest level since late January.
Read: 6 athletes to represent Bangladesh in Tokyo Olympics
The capital's latest number topped the figure posted in the week earlier for the 27th straight day, raising its seven-day rolling average of infections per day to 946.3, up 37.8 percent from the previous week.
Health experts advising the metropolitan government have warned the moving average could jump to 2,406 by Aug. 11, shortly after the Olympics end on Aug. 8, topping the third wave that swept across Tokyo in the winter.
Read: Tokyo Olympics rescheduled for July 23-Aug 8 in 2021
Public concerns remain high that the Olympics could become a superspreader event with the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, first found in India.
6 athletes to represent Bangladesh in Tokyo Olympics
An 18-member contingent from Bangladesh, including six athletes who will represent the country in various disciplines and 12 officials, will join the world's biggest sports carnival, the Olympic Games, to be held in Japanese capital Tokyo from July 23 to August 8 next.
The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the 32nd Olympiad and branded as Tokyo 2020, the world's biggest international multi sports festival, finally looks set to proceed, after being held over from last year due to the pandemic -the first time in the Games' history that they have been postponed and rescheduled, rather than cancelled.
The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled for July 24 to August 9 in 2020, was postponed in March 2020 for the Covid-19 pandemic and later rescheduled for 2021. It will now be held largely behind closed doors with no spectators permitted under the state of emergency.
Also read: Genuinely excited to welcome Bangladesh Olympic team to Tokyo: Japanese envoy
Six Bangladeshi athletes will compete in four disciplines of sports --archery, swimming,athletics and Shooting --in their dream.
How will the virus emergency affect the Olympics?
A virus state of emergency began Monday in Japan’s capital, as the number of new cases is climbing fast and hospital beds are starting to fill just 11 days ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
Here’s a look at the state of emergency and how it will affect the Olympics.
WHAT RESTRICTIONS ARE THERE?
The six-week emergency is Japan’s fourth since the pandemic began and will last until Aug. 22. The main target of the new state of emergency is alcohol served at bars and restaurants as authorities want people to stay home and watch the games on TV and not gather in public.
Like past emergencies, most of the measures are requests because the government lacks a legal basis to enforce hard lockdowns. Authorities have recently given themselves more power to issue binding orders for businesses to close or shorten hours in exchange for compensation. They can also now fine businesses that violate those orders.
Also read: Japan to declare virus emergency lasting through Olympics
The new state of emergency requests that restaurants, bars, karaoke parlors and other entertainment outlets either close or not serve alcohol. It asks liquor stores to suspend business with restaurants and bars that defy the request, but liquor stores say that would hurt their business ties.
Schools will stay open during this emergency, while theme parks, museums, theaters and most stores and restaurants are requested to close at 8 p.m.
Tokyo residents are asked to avoid nonessential outings, work from home and stick to mask-wearing and other safety measures. Measures for the general public are non-mandatory.
WHAT AREAS DOES IT COVER?
The latest state of emergency covers Tokyo’s nearly 14 million residents, while less-stringent measures focusing on shortened hours for restaurants and bars affect 31 million other people in nearby cities of Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa that are home to some Olympic venues.
The measures also cover Osaka, which was hit hard by a virus surge in April, and the southern island of Okinawa.
HOW WILL THIS AFFECT THE OLYMPICS?
The state of emergency will cover the entire duration of the July 23-Aug. 8 Olympics and its main impact will be in barring fans from stadiums and arenas in the Tokyo area.
While the state of emergency mainly covers Tokyo, Olympic officials have decided to bar fans from events hosted in Tokyo’s three neighboring prefectures, while allowing limited fans at other outlying venues. Soccer events in Hokkaido and baseball and softball games in Fukushima, however, will also bar fans due to virus concerns.
Also read: Tokyo shapes up to be No-Fun Olympics with many rules, tests
The games have already been postponed from 2020 by the pandemic, and fans from abroad were banned months ago.
With the new restrictions, the games will now be a largely TV-only event.
HOW BAD IS JAPAN’S VIRUS SITUATION?
Japan has weathered the pandemic better than many other countries, logging about bout 820,000 cases and 15,000 deaths.
But the situation has grown more serious in recent weeks, and Tokyo hit a two-month high of 950 new cases on Saturday. Experts have warned that the delta variant, which is thought to be more contagious, is spreading fast in offices and classrooms and without tough measures the numbers could skyrocket by August.
About 16.8% of the population has been fully vaccinated, a number that has picked up since May but is still far short of where officials hoped to be before the Olympics. Younger people are largely unvaccinated.
WILL THE PUBLIC COMPLY?
Experts worry whether the latest state of emergency requests will be followed when many people are already fatigued by the restraints and grown less cooperative.
Health Minister Norihisa Tamura has said that effectively preventing people from going out drinking amid festive mood of the Olympic will be a headache.
Also read: Tokyo Olympics to be held mostly without spectators due to pandemic
Young people are already gathering in streets and parks to drink after restaurants and bars close at 8 p.m. Tokyo metropolitan officials have started nighttime patrolling to chase them away.
Experts say Japanese roaming around during their summer vacations and the Olympics could be a greater risk than athletes and other participants whose activity will be closely monitored.
Japan opens mass vaccination centers 2 months before Games
Japan mobilized military doctors and nurses to give shots to elderly people in Tokyo and Osaka on Monday as the government desperately tries to accelerate its vaccination rollout and curb coronavirus infections just two months before hosting the Olympics.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is determined to hold the Olympics in Tokyo after a one-year delay and has made an ambitious pledge to finish vaccinating the country’s 36 million elderly people by the end of July, despite skepticism it’s possible. Worries about public safety while many Japanese remain unvaccinated have prompted growing protests and calls for canceling the Games set to start on July 23.
Suga’s government has repeatedly expanded the area and duration of a virus state of emergency since late April and has made its virus-fighting measures stricter. But with COVID-19 cases still persistently high, Suga says vaccines are key to getting the infections under control.
Read:Packed trains, drinking: Japanese impatient over virus steps
At the two mass inoculation centers staffed by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, the aim is to inoculate up to 10,000 people per day in Tokyo and another 5,000 per day in Osaka for the next three months.
People inoculated at the centers on Monday were the first in Japan to receive doses from Moderna Inc., one of two foreign-developed vaccines Japan approved on Friday.
Previously Japan had used only Pfizer Inc., and only about 2% of the population of 126 million has received the required two doses.
Japan began vaccinating health care workers in mid-February while sticking to a standard requirement of clinical testing inside Japan — a decision many experts said was statistically meaningless and only caused delay.
Vaccinations for the next group — the elderly, who are more likely to suffer serious COVID-19 effects — started in mid-April but has been slwed by bureaucratic bumbling including reservation procedures, unclear distribution plans and shortage of medical staff to give shots.
Completion of Japan-developed vaccines is still uncertain, but Japanese government officials hope the approvals Friday of Moderna and AstraZeneca will help speed up the rollout.
Read:Japan's Olympic chief marks pride week with LGBTQ event
Progress is still unclear because of the dire shortage of medical staff who can give shots while they are already busy treating COVID-19 patients. AstraZeneca’s plans are also pending due to concerns about its rare blood-clotting in a country known for low confidence in vaccines.
Separately, several local governments, including Aichi in central Japan and Gunma near Tokyo and Miyagi in the north, were also to open their own large vaccination centers on Monday.
Athlete Jahir Raihan picked for Tokyo Olympics
The Bangladesh Athletics Federation has chosen the country's famed athlete Mohammad Jahir Raihan to compete in the 400-metre run in the athletics event at Tokyo Olympics – slated to be held during July 23-August 8.
The selection committee of the Athletics Federation chose the country record holder Navy athlete Jahir from the shortlist of three, considering his performance at the local and international events.
The two other short-listed athletes were Shirin Akhter (100-metre sprint) and Mohammad Ismail (100 -metre sprint).
Earlier, the country's celebrated archer Ruman Shana became the first Bangladeshi athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Later, two Bangladeshi swimmers – Ariful Islam and Junaiyana Ahmed – earned wild cards to compete in the Olympics.
Preparations for the Games are progressing under tight Covid-19 protocols.
Packed trains, drinking: Japanese impatient over virus steps
Trains packed with commuters returning to work after a weeklong national holiday. Frustrated young people drinking in the streets because bars are closed. Protests planned over a possible visit by the Olympics chief.
As the coronavirus spreads in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Olympics starting in 11 weeks, one of the world’s least vaccinated nations is showing signs of strain, both societal and political.
The government — desperate to show a worried public it is in control of virus efforts even as it pushes a massive sporting event that a growing number of Japanese oppose hosting in a pandemic — on Friday announced a decision to expand and extend a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas through May 31.
For Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, the emergency declaration is both a health measure and a political tightrope walk as domestic criticism rises of Japan’s seeming determination to hold the Olympics at any cost.
“I understand there are concerns about hosting the Olympics,” Suga said. He said foreign athletes and other participants will be strictly separated from the Japanese public and that “it is possible to hold a safe and secure Olympics while protecting the people’s lives and health.”
Suga said a donation of vaccines by Pfizer Inc. to the International Olympic Committee for athletes will be “a big contribution” to a safe games.
A speculated mid-May visit by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has become “extremely difficult” because of the extension of the emergency, Japanese organizing chief Seiko Hashimoto said at a news conference Friday.
The government has also been criticized over its snail-paced vaccination rollout, which has fully covered less than 1% of the population since inoculations began in mid-February.
Suga pledged on Friday to speed up inoculations so all 36 million elderly Japanese can be fully vaccinated by the end of July. He set a daily target of 1 million shots, more than 20 times the current daily average, but did not explain how that would be possible amid a dire shortage of medical workers who can give vaccinations.
Japan has avoided implementing a hard lockdown to curb infections, and past states of emergency have had little teeth, with people and businesses free to ignore the provisions. These measures have since been toughened, but they come as citizens show increased impatience and less desire to cooperate, making it possible that the emergency declaration will be less effective.
The current state of emergency in Tokyo and Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures in the west was scheduled to end Tuesday. Suga said his government has decided to extend it in those areas and expand it to Aichi in central Japan and Fukuoka in the south.
On Friday, two days after “Golden Week” holiday makers returned to their daily routine, Tokyo logged 907 new cases of coronavirus infections, up sharply from 635 when the state of emergency began in the capital last month, but far above the target of 100 that some experts recommend.
Officials and experts say significantly fewer people may have been tested for the virus during the holiday, when many testing centers and hospitals were closed, and caution the numbers during and right after the holiday period may not reflect reality.
During the holidays, significantly more people than last year were seen at tourist spots in Kyoto and Nara despite stay-at-home requests. With drinking places closed, younger people carrying canned beer and snacks gathered in parks and streets in downtown Tokyo. When the holiday ended, many defied requests for remote work and returned to their offices on packed trains.
The extension deepens uncertainties over a speculated May 17 visit by International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach, and whether Japan can safely host the Olympics postponed from last year and currently scheduled for July 23-Aug. 8.
Despite criticism for being slow to take virus measures, Suga has been reluctant to hurt the already pandemic-damaged economy and pledged to keep the state of emergency “short and intensive,” though experts said just over two weeks would be too short to effectively slow the infections and even the extension may be insufficient.
Dr. Shigeru Omi, head of a government taskforce, cautioned officials Friday that a hasty lifting of the emergency would only invite an immediate resurgence.
The ongoing emergency is Japan’s third and came only a month after an earlier measure ended in the Tokyo area.
Less stringent, quasi-emergency measures will be expanded to eight prefectures from the current six, where bars and restaurants are required to close early.
Japan has had about 621,000 cases including about 10,600 deaths since the pandemic began.
Medical systems in hardest-hit Osaka have been under severe pressure from a COVID-19 outbreak there that is hampering ordinary health care, experts say. A number of patients died at home recently after their conditions worsened while waiting for vacancies at hospitals.
Past emergency measures authorized only non-mandatory requests. The government in February toughened a law on anti-virus measures to allow authorities to issue binding orders for nonessential businesses to shorten their hours or close, in exchange for compensation for those who comply and penalties for violators.
Shutdown requirements will be eased somewhat. Bars, karaoke studios and most other entertainment facilities will be required to remain closed until the end of May, but department stores will be able to operate for shorter hours and stadiums and concert halls will be allowed to have up to 5,000 people or half their capacity.
Wearing masks, staying home and other measures for the general public remain non-mandatory requests.
PM opens Bangabandhu 9th Bangladesh Games
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened multi-sport extravaganza Bangabandhu 9th Bangladesh Games on Thursday at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in the capital.
She joined the inaugural ceremony from her official residence Ganobhaban virtually in the evening.
Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) is organising the Bangladesh Games at 29 separate venues across the country.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Hasina urged all athletes of 31 sports disciplines of the Games to make themselves fit enough to compete in the Olympics in the future.
“Alongside showing your skills in (9th Bangladesh Games), make yourselves properly fit to participate in the Olympic Games anywhere in the world in the future,” she said.
She said the government will take steps to arrange international training to make sportspersons prepared so that they can take part in some events of the Olympic Games. “We want to develop our athletes in such a way,” she said.
The PM urged all the athletes to follow the health protection rules as it is being held amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also read: Avoid public gatherings, wear masks to fight Covid surge, PM urges all
She also asked the organiser to pay attention so that health rules are maintained during the Bangabandhu 9th Bangladesh Games.
Sheikh Hasina said sports are absolutely needed, particularly for our small children and youths.
Torch relay for Tokyo Olympics kicks off its 121-day journey
The torch relay for the postponed Tokyo Olympics began its 121-day journey across Japan on Thursday and is headed toward the opening ceremony in Tokyo on July 23.
The relay began in northeastern Fukushima prefecture, the area that was devastated by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and the meltdown of three nuclear reactors. About 18,000 died in the tragedy.
Also Read: Tokyo Olympics postponed
The first runner with the torch was Azusa Iwashimizu, a key player in the Japan team that won the Women’s World Cup in 2011.
Wearing a white track suit, she carried the torch out of the J-Village indoor soccer training center and was surrounded by 14 other members of that 2011 World Cup squad and coach Norio Sasaki at the rear. They were also decked out in white track suits.
Also Read: Speculation over Tokyo Olympics: 2021, 2032 or not at all?
The ceremony was closed to the public because of the fear of spreading COVID-19 but was streamed live.
“The torch of Tokyo 2020 will become a bright light for hope for Japanese citizens and citizens in the world and a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the local organizing committee and a former Olympian herself.
Homare Sawa, the biggest star on the 2011 team, missed the ceremony. She is being treated for a condition affecting her inner ear and had to withdraw from the event.
Fans were told to social-distance along the roadside as the torch passes, and they were to refrain from loud cheering. Organizers have said they will stop or reroute the relay if crowding becomes a problem during the four-month parade.
Spectators cooperated in Naraha Town, just down the road from where the torch started its trip. A few hundred people stood on the roadside and were safely spread out.
“At first I didn’t think much of it,” said 20-year-old Takumu Kimura. “But when I actually saw it, it felt like: — yes, it’s the Olympics.”
Setsuko Hashimoto, a 63-year-old local resident, was emotional as the torch passed.
“Ten years ago there was a nuclear accident so (seeing the torch) it felt like I could really look forward to something and live,” she said. “When you become my age, this is the last Tokyo Olympics and it’s here. It was very touching.”
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga chimed in from Tokyo with a statement.
“The Olympic torch relay starting from today is a valuable opportunity for the people to get a real sense of the Olympics and Paralympics that are approaching,” Suga told reporters.
Local organizers and the International Olympic Committee hope the relay will turn public opinion in Japan in favor of the Olympics. Sentiments expressed in polls in Japan so far are overwhelmingly negative with about 80% suggesting another delay or cancellation.
The relay and the Olympics both stir fear that the events could spread the virus. There is also opposition to the soaring cost of staging the Olympics, now put officially at $15.4 billion. Several audits suggest it’s twice that much and a University of Oxford study says these are the most expensive Olympics on record.
The relay is a big test for the upcoming Olympics with fear among the public that the event could spread the virus to rural and more isolated parts of the country. Vaccinations have not been rolled out yet in Japan to the general public. About 9,000 deaths in the country have been attributed to COVID-19.
About 10,000 runners are expected to take part, with the relay touching Japan’s 47 prefectures.
After the postponement a year ago, there was early talk of eliminating the relay to save money. However, that idea was quickly dropped with the relay heavily sponsored by Coca-Cola and Toyota.
The relay is a prelude to the difficulties the Olympics and Paralympics will present with 15,400 athletes entering Japan, along with thousands of other officials, judges, VIPs, media, and broadcasters.
Athletes will be kept in a “bubble” like atmosphere in Tokyo and will be limited to the Athletes Village on Tokyo Bay, the competition venues and training areas. Most others will be outside the bubble and will be kept at a distance from the athletes.
Organizers announced a few days ago that fans from abroad will be banned from attending the Olympics and Paralympics. Most volunteers from abroad have also been ruled out.
Organizers are to announce the venue capacities in April. Ticket revenue for the Olympics was to be $800 million but will be severely reduced by the lack of fans. Japanese government entities will have to make up the shortfall.
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