Olympics in doubt as Japan COVID outbreak worsens

The United States has issued a warning to citizens saying they should avoid traveling to Japan until the country’s COVID-19 outbreak is brought under control.

It comes as Japan struggles to convince the international arena that it is ready to hold the Summer Olympics in July.

The US State Department raised its travel advisory for Japan to level four – meaning the country is now in line with other nations from Latin America to Europe.

Experts say Japan’s latest Covid outbreak is due to the small number of the population that have had their vaccination.

Around 3 percent of Japanese citizens have received their jab, compared to 40 percent in both the US and Great Britain.

Japan’s leader Prime Minister Suga this week extended the state of emergency that is currently in place, in the hope of controlling the outbreak before the Olympics.

Warnings against the Olympics

Japanese tycoon Masayoshi Son has warned of significant dangers around holding the Olympics in Tokyo. This comes as the Japanese Government on Monday kicked off a mass vaccination drive to catch up with other countries and ensure a “safe and secure” Games.

In a series of tweets, the influential SoftBank Group CEO expressed bewilderment and concern about the Tokyo Olympics, calling Japan a “vaccine laggard” and saying the slow inoculation drive less than two months before the start of the Games could put people’s lives at risk.

“Currently more than 80% of people want the Olympics to be postponed or canceled. Who and on what authority is it being forced through?” the billionaire executive, wrote in a tweet in Japanese over the weekend.

In a follow-up tweet posted late on Sunday, Son, who has 2.8 million followers, wrote: “Does the IOC (International Olympic Committee) have the power to decide that the Games would go ahead?