A kind coronavirus Gathering at the Japanese hotel where dozens of Brazilian Olympic team members are located has raised new concerns about the world’s top infections Olympic Games The official promise that Wednesday will be a “historic” Olympics.
Just a week before the opening ceremony, the surge in new Olympic-related cases and infections in the host city highlighted the risk of hosting the world’s largest sporting event during the pandemic, even if there are no spectators in the stadium.
7 employees at the Hamamatsu City Hotel in the southwest Tokyo, A city official said that he tested positive for the coronavirus.
But the 31 Brazilian Olympic delegation, including judo athletes, was separated from other guests in the “bubble” of the hotel and was not infected.
The host city Tokyo has been in a state of emergency until the end of the Olympics on August 8. It also recorded 1,149 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the most in the past six months.
Highly contagious variants of the virus have fueled the latest wave of infections, and failure to vaccinate people faster has made people vulnerable.
Medical experts worry that the Olympic “bubble” imposed by officials of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to stop COVID-19 may not be completely nervous, because the movement of staff serving the Olympics may create opportunities for infection.
The Olympic Games, which was postponed by the virus spreading around the world last year, lost a lot of public support in Japan for fear of causing a surge in infections.
Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), praised the organizers and the Japanese people for hosting the Olympics during the pandemic.
After meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Bach told reporters: “This will be a historic Olympics… Learn how the Japanese people have overcome so many challenges in the past few years, the earthquake in eastern Japan, and the current coronavirus pandemic.”
When Japan won the right to host the Olympic Games in 2013, they were expected to celebrate their recovery from the deadly earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident in 2011.
Japanese leaders had hoped that this year’s rescheduled Olympics would celebrate the world’s victory over the coronavirus, but these celebrations have been put on hold as many countries are fighting a surge in new infections.
The coronavirus cluster in the Brazilian hotel was discovered during routine inspections before the staff started work, said Yoshinobu Sawada, a city official.
Many Olympic delegations are already in Japan, and some athletes have tested positive upon arrival.
The International Olympic Committee said that after a team official tested positive in Qatar, the refugee Olympic team postponed its trip to Japan.
Members of the South African rugby team were quarantined upon arrival because they are believed to have been in close contact with a case on the flight, said Kagoshima City, which hosted the team.
South African official Kajihara said that the 21 members of the South African team were originally scheduled to stay in the city from Wednesday, but the plan has been suspended until the health authorities provide further advice.
An opinion survey conducted by Ipsos of 28 countries/regions shows that due to concerns about the COVID-19 in Japan and the withdrawal of well-known athletes, global interest in the Tokyo Olympics has diminished, with the host country being the least interested.
A public opinion poll released on Tuesday found that an average of 46% of people worldwide are interested in the Olympics, while in Japan, 78% oppose the continued hosting of the Olympics.
As spectators are banned from participating in all Olympic events in Tokyo and surrounding areas, officials have asked people to watch the Olympics on TV and minimize activities.
“Billions of people around the world will be glued to their screens, and they will admire the achievements of the Japanese people in these very difficult situations,” Bach said.
Among them will not participate in the game in Japan is the former world number one golfer Adam Scott. He questioned whether hosting the Tokyo Olympics was a responsible decision, and pointed out that the Japanese people were frightened as they struggled with the resurgence of infection.
After the 20-time Grand Slam champion said Tuesday that he suffered a knee injury during the grass season, Switzerland’s Roger Federer became the latest tennis player to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park, Antoni Slodkowski, Joseph Campbell, and Sam Nussey; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel, and Simon Cameron-Moore)
