Tokyo Olympics: Doctors' association urges PM Suga to cancel games amid COVID-19 surge

Doctors in Tokyo have called on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to cancel the upcoming Olympic games, citing a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city. Tokyo's medical practitioners' association has written an open letter to Suga, urging the Prime Minister to call off the games, which are slated to be held in July-August this year. Tokyo is currently witnessing a steep rise in fresh COVID-19 infections, which has raised concerns amongst the medical community in the city, who feel a shortage of beds and healthcare professionals will be inevitable if the games are held as scheduled. 

"We strongly request that the authorities convince the International Olympic Committee that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games. The medical institutions dealing with Covid-19 have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity," the medical association said in an open letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, which was published on its website on May 17. 

What does the government say?

Meanwhile, the Japanese government feels it can still host the games successfully without any hindrances. Japan has extended the state of emergency from six regions to nine as of Tuesday in order to tackle the rise in COVID-19 cases ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. Hokkaido, Hiroshima, and Okayama are the three new prefectures added to the list of regions currently under strict restrictions. According to reports. bars, entertainment hubs, and karaoke parlours will remain shut until at least May 31, which is when the new lockdown is supposed to end in across Japan. 

Tokyo will be hosting the Olympics beginning on July 23. There are concerns over the spread of more infectious coronavirus variants and the vaccine rollout in the country. Almost half of Japan's 47 prefectures have reached Stage 4, which is the worst level on the government's four-point scale, for the volume of weekly infection cases per 100,000 people, reports Kyodo news. The country of 120 million people recorded more than 3,700 deaths on Monday, which is a decline from over 6,000 cases per day last week. Japan has registered 6,80,000 COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic, of which over 11,500 people have lost their lives to date. 

(Image Credit: AP)