In the aftermath of the unstoppable corona… Japan’s official denial of Tokyo Olympics cancellation rumors’spread’

-Despite the denial of the Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the reason for the continuing prospect of canceling the Tokyo Olympics in and outside Japan reflects the reality that the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) rarely stops.

According to NHK, on ​​the 21st, there were 5653 new cases and 94 deaths in Japan. In particular, with the death toll of around 100 in recent days, medical collapse in major cities such as Tokyo has become visible, putting a burden on the government. The cumulative confirmed cases and deaths also exceeded 350,000 and 4700, respectively.

As of the 19th, 74% of the 4,000 dedicated corona 19 patient beds prepared by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government were full. Haruo Ozaki, chairman of the Tokyo Metropolitan Medical Association, told the Asahi Shimbun on the 22nd, “We should abandon the idea of ​​inviting audiences from various countries to hold a festival of the century.

Japan is looking forward to vaccinating against Corona 19, but it is unlikely that it will end the vaccination of 120 million people before the Olympics in July. Osaka Mayor Matsui Ichiro said on the 20th, “It is impossible to complete domestic vaccination before this summer. It is predicted that it will be difficult to hold the Tokyo Olympics this year. Mayor Matsui proposed to postpone the Tokyo Olympics to 2024, but Paris, France, the venue for 2024 rejected the offer. As international games are canceled one after another due to Corona 19, the selection of representative players is also disrupting. As of the beginning of this month, only 117 representative athletes from 13 sports have decided. Initially, it was decided to select 600 players to compete in 33 sports, but it remains at about 20%. Some government officials are also anonymously telling the press, “Wouldn’t it be difficult to hold the Olympics?” An analysis suggests whether Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga briefly stated in his New Year’s speech on the 18th, “I will make sure to prepare for infection” in consideration of the possibility of cancellation. This contrasts with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who devoted most of his New Year’s speech to the Olympics in January last year. Opposition also added. Communist Party lawmaker Kazuo Shii also insisted on the 21st that “the Olympics should be stopped and all forces should be gathered to deal with Corona 19”. Democratic Party leader Yukio Edano also said, “It is irresponsible to only make hopeful observations. He urged us to prepare “Plan B” in case of an emergency. In the Kyodo News survey on the 9th and 10th, 81% of the respondents answered that they must cancel and re-act.

Even so, the reason why the Japanese government and the IOC are officially shouting “normally held” is also raised as a high-level aim to gain an edge in negotiations after cancellation. If it is canceled or postponed again, a considerable battle is expected over who will pay more for the additional cost and penalty.

Tokyo = correspondent Park Hyung-jun [email protected]