State of emergency declared in Tokyo ahead of postponed 2020 Olympic Games

Claire Thomson

A fourth state of emergency has been declared in Tokyo following a spike in coronavirus infections. The postponed 2020 Olympic Games will now be held without spectators for the first time in history.

Subsequent to a meeting with Olympic and Japanese governments and officials, Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, and Olympics Minister, Tamayo Marukawa, announced on Thursday 8 July that the upcoming Olympic Games would function under a state of emergency for its entirety. Due to be in place from 12 July and remain until 22 August, the state of emergency is expected to be reviewed after the end of the Olympic Games on 8 August, before the commencement of the Paralympic Games on 24 August.

Covid-19 Cases

The increase in infection rate in the area including Tokyo has led to the decision being made. On Wednesday 7 July, Japan recorded 2,180 new cases with 920 of those being in the country’s capital city of Tokyo. This is the highest daily total since May.

Speaking at the beginning of the Japanese government’s Covid-19 briefing, Suga said, “The number of severe cases and bed occupancy rate continues to be on the low level, but considering the impact of variants, we need to enhance countermeasures so that the infection will not spread nationwide.”

“It will be an unusual way of staging the event amid a state of emergency,” Suga admitted. “But I want to show from Tokyo that the human race can overcome great difficulty through hard work and wisdom.”

The minister responsible for the country’s response to the pandemic, Yasutoshi Nishimura, stated that the Delta variant now answers for up to 30 percent of cases.

Additionally, only 15 percent of the Japanese population is fully vaccinated, compared to 47.4 percent in the United States and more than 50 percent in Britain.

Restrictions

Spectators and fans from overseas had already been barred from travelling to Tokyo for the Olympic Games in March. Last month, Olympic organisers had declared that venues would open with a cap of 10,000 people per venue or with a limited capacity of 50 percent. The latest state of emergency has barred spectators from the 25 venues situated within Tokyo as well as those in the three prefectures near Tokyo of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama. However, the remaining four prefectures have made the decision to follow the initial rules set out last month.

In addition, bars and restaurants are not allowed to serve alcohol under the restrictions with an 8:00PM curfew also enforced.

Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said, “it is regrettable that we are delivering the Games in a very limited format, facing the spread of coronavirus infections.”

“I am sorry to those who purchased tickets and everyone in local areas.”

There will be a deep sense of loss among athletes who will now be competing in empty stadiums. However, the drive to compete is still very much present.

Featured image courtesy of Ryunosuke Kikuno on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.