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Tokyo 2020
Doctors in Tokyo call for the cancellation of the Olympics due to rise in COVID cases
A top medical organisation in Japan, Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000 primary care doctors, has called for the cancellation of Tokyo Olympics saying hospitals are already overwhelmed
A man wearing a face mask sits at a bus stop in front of a Tokyo 2020 Olympics advertisement in March, 2020. (Source: Mladen Antonov / Getty)
A top medical organisation in Japan, Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000 primary care doctors, has called for the cancellation of Tokyo Olympics saying hospitals are already overwhelmed as the country battles a spike in coronavirus infections less than three months from the start of the Games.
"We strongly request that the authorities convince the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games," the association said in a May 14 open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga which was posted to its website on Monday.
As per reports of Reuters, a jump in infections has stoked alarm amid a shortage of medical staff and hospital beds in some areas of the Japanese capital, promoting the government to extend a third state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures until May 31.
Other health experts and medical groups have voiced their concerns about the Olympics, while an online petition calling for the Games to be cancelled was signed by hundreds of thousands of people. Overall, Japan has avoided an explosive spread of the virus experienced by other nations, but the government has come under sharp criticism for its sluggish vaccination roll-out.
But Suga says Japan can host "a safe and secure Olympics" while following appropriate COVID-19 containment measures. Preparations for the July 23-Aug. 8 Games are progressing under tight COVID-19 protocols, such as an athletics test event featuring 420 athletes in early May. The Games have already been postponed once due to the pandemic.
With cases surging across much of Asia, the World Economic Forum on Monday cancelled its annual meeting of the global elite due to be held in Singapore in August. Under the state of emergency in parts of Japan, bars, restaurants, karaoke parlours and other places serving alcohol will remain closed, although large commercial facilities can re-open under shorter hours. Hard-hit Tokyo and Osaka will continue to keep these larger facilities closed.
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