Japan state of emergency expansion over-shadows Tokyo Olympics

Olympics 2022: athlete claims quarantine food is making her weak and unwell in viral Instagram post

Olympics 2022: athlete claims quarantine food is making her weak and unwell in viral Instagram post. image: Pixabay

Japan state of emergency expansion is over-shadowing the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Japan has announced that it will expand its states of emergency to three prefectures near Olympic host Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka, as COVID-19 cases spike in the capital and around the country, overshadowing the Summer Games.

Tokyo, which is already under its fourth state of emergency since the pandemic began, announced 3,300 new daily cases, after a record 3,865 on Thursday, July 29.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told a news conference the virus is spreading at an unprecedented speed largely because of the Delta variant, adding he is worried the country’s hospital resources are already stretched to the limit.

“With a heavy heart, I want to ask everyone: until we see the impact of more vaccinations, I want you all to stay vigilant and implement infection prevention measures to the full,” he said, calling on people to watch the Olympics on TV at home.

Already, 64% of Tokyo’s hospital beds available for serious COVID-19 cases were reported as filled as of mid-week.

The new emergency measures come into effect from Aug. 2-Aug. 31, while existing states of emergency for Tokyo and southern Okinawa island will be extended to Aug. 31, covering 37% of the country’s population.

Together with another five prefectures which Suga declared as coming under ‘quasi-emergency’, more than a half of the country now lives under some restrictions.

Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said the country had entered a new “extremely frightening” stage as cases are spiking even though the movement of people was not increasing.

“I think that people cannot see ahead and, worrying how long this situation will last, they find it unbearable that they cannot return to normal daily life,” he told the panel.

Japan has imposed a series of “state of emergency” declarations, but the orders are mostly voluntary, unlike other countries which impose strict lockdowns.


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Ron Howells

Ron actually started his working career as an Ophthalmic Technician- things changed when, during a band rehearsal, his amplifier blew up and he couldn’t get it fixed so he took a course at Birmingham University and ended up doing a degree course. He built up a chain of electronics stores and sold them as a franchise over 35 years ago. After five years touring the world Ron decided to move to Spain with his wife and son, a place they had visited over the years, and only bought the villa they live in because it has a guitar-shaped swimming pool!. Playing the guitar since the age of 7, he can often be seen, (and heard!) at beach bars and clubs along the length of the coast. He has always been interested in the news and constantly thrives to present his articles in an interesting and engaging way.

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