Tokyo: With less than three months to go before the Tokyo Olympics, a Japanese medical organisation representing 6,000 doctors is calling for cancellation of the Games amid the COVID-19 surge. Hit by the pandemic, Japan is currently battling the fourth wave of new infections in several areas of the country.
The new surge of the virus has already put pressure on the country’s healthcare system. The medical professionals have repeatedly been giving warnings to the Japanese government about a shortage of beds and medicines, saying it will be out of hand for them if the Tokyo Olympics are held as scheduled.
Writing an open letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Monday, the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association wrote, “We strongly request that the authorities convince International Olympic Committee that holding the Olympics is impossible to organise the Games safely at a time when people around the world are battling the new coronavirus, and obtain its decision to cancel the Games.
“The medical institutions that are dealing with the deadly virus have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity,” it added. The Tokyo Olympics was postponed for a year due to the increasing Covid-19 cases.
There’s still a lot of uncertainty, but the Prime Minister said that holding a “safe and secure” Olympics was possible if tight preventive measures were implemented. The Games are set from July 23 to August 8. The Paralympics will follow, from August 24 to September 5.
