Japan is committed to holding safe games in the local summer, Tokyo Olympics President Seiko Hashimoto said on Friday, while an increase in Covid-19 cases has increased infection control and despite new requests to postpone or cancel the event again.
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The government has expanded semi-emergency measures to ten regions now after a fourth wave of infections spread, creating more doubts about the possibility of hosting the Olympic Games in the capital in less than 100 days.
“We are not thinking of canceling the Olympics,” said Seiko Hashimoto, president of Tokyo 2020, a spokeswoman for the organizing committee. “We will continue to do everything in our power to put in place a comprehensive security system that makes people feel completely safe,” he added.
The government has added Aichi, Kanagawa, Sitama and Chiba to the six regions already under infection control, including the cities of Tokyo and Osaka.
Prominent Japanese health experts have realized that the COVID-19 pandemic has entered the fourth wave.
Daily infection cases reached a record high of 1,209 in Osaka on Friday (16 cases), driven by a virulent strain of the virus that was first identified in the United Kingdom. Yesterday (15) Tokyo recorded 729 new infections, the highest number since the beginning of February, when most of the country was in a state of emergency.
A poll by Jiji News on Friday showed that nearly two-thirds of Japanese said the Olympics should be postponed or canceled.
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