Don’t worry, what pandemic, it’s really nothing.
It must be good to know if you live in Japan that Thomas Bach and John Coates are not too worried that the country is experiencing a COVID-19 spike. After all, Bach and Coates have a Tokyo Olympics experience to present in less than two months and they really don’t intend to shut down the gala event because of COVID-19. The two seemingly are not worried that 10 areas in Japan are in a lockdown. Coates, the International Olympic Committee vice-president, recently said that it was now “clearer than ever” that the Games would be safe for everyone participating, as well as the general public in Japan. Coates is not a doctor, or an infectious disease expert but he knows everything will be safe. Japan’s doctors have told Bach and Coates to forget about holding the Olympics in Japan starting July 23rd. In Osaka, Japan’s third largest city and two and a half hours away from Tokyo by bullet train, things are getting worse. Hospitals are overflowing with COVID-19 patients. Additionally, 35,000 people, twice the number of those in the hospital, must stay at home with the disease and risk becoming seriously ill or sometimes dying before they can get medical care. But the Games Must Go On.
The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association pointed out hospitals “have their hands full” and have almost no capacity left to deal with a possible outbreak triggered by the Olympics. The medical group wants the Japanese government to persuade the International Olympic Committee to cancel the Games. Local governments of towns hosting Olympic events outside Tokyo report they have no hospital beds to spare and will refuse to set aside facilities for athletes if they are needed for local residents. Japanese residents overwhelmingly want the event postponed or canceled. But the Games Must Go On.
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