Tokyo Olympics: with eight weeks to the Games, is Japan delaying day of reckoning amid torrent of warnings?

The bad news continues: Japan is still racing to control Covid-19, medical experts say the Games could give rise to an ‘Olympic strain’ and athletes have reservations about travel or are threatening to pull out

There are also rumours of a boycott by South Korea over a territorial dispute. Assurances by the IOC that the Games will be safe have not calmed fears

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The Japanese government is likely to recommend extending a state of emergency that includes Tokyo and other major cities as it tries to rein in coronavirus infections ahead of the Olympics. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 5:28pm, 28 May 2021Updated: 9:21pm, 28 May 2021

Japan on Friday marked exactly eight weeks until the July 23 opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games, but the countdown to the largest sporting event in the nation’s history continues to be marred by a torrent of bad news.

Amid rumours of a boycott by South Korea over a territorial dispute, increasingly dire warnings about the Covid-19 pandemic from medical experts, and growing concerns among athletes due to travel to Tokyo, the Japanese government on Friday evening extended a state of emergency for the capital and eight other prefectures.

The present state of emergency is due to expire on Monday, but infection rates have not come down as much as health authorities had hoped and a panel of experts on Friday recommended an extension of the restrictions. The new state of emergency will run until June 20.

“In Osaka and Tokyo, the flow of people is starting to creep up and there are concerns that infections will rise,” Yasutoshi Nishimura, the economy minister who has also been put in charge of the government’s response to the pandemic, said at the start of the experts’ meeting.

There were 735,302 Covid-19 cases reported in Japan as of Friday, with 12,691 related deaths.

A number of medical experts have in recent days warned against going ahead with the Games.

Dr Naoto Ueyama, chairman of the Japan Doctors’ Union, on Thursday told a press conference the government had underestimated the risks associated with bringing tens of thousands of athletes, support staff and International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials into the country.