OLYMPIC GAMES

IN ten weeks, the rescheduled Olympic Games are set to get underway. Yet, as the days count down, the opposition grows. A state of emergency in Japan’s capital city has been extended until the end of the month, with citizens there increasingly angry and hostile towards staging what they believe will be a “superspreader” event.

The plans of the organisers appear foolhardy rather than foolproof, with the playbooks of coronavirus protocols raising more questions than answers – the greatest of them being: Can the Olympics really go ahead?

Many residents in Tokyo have expressed disquiet and feel their views have been neglected by organisers. They have said it is a “recipe for disaster” if the Games go ahead and feel scared for their fellow citizens as the virus remains virulent and extremely dangerous.

While comprehensive playbooks have been published for athletes, officials and media, volunteers have received just a two-page pamphlet encouraging them to wear masks, use hand sanitiser and stay socially distanced.

Volunteers and residents are not expected to be subjected to the same level of coronavirus testing as other participants and will not be deemed as being in the “bubble”, so will be able to use public transport and visit restaurants and bars.

There is a firm belief that there is a significant risk for volunteers who have contact with people in the Olympic bubble, then go home to their families on public transport, who could very well be the ones who are contributing to this superspreader event.

From a moral standpoint, it is inconceivable that the Games should be held during a global pandemic, wasting money when so many people in the world are still dying.

What is really worrying the Japanese public is that little more than two per cent of the population have received the vaccine so far. Alarm bells are ringing that the Olympics are taking a priority over the vaccination programme.

A recent opinion poll showed 72 per cent of Japanese citizens want the Games to be cancelled or postponed again. Meanwhile, an online petition headlined, “Stop Tokyo Olympics”, has garnered more than 300,000 signatures since it launched last week.

Expert opinion

Professor Kentaro Iwata, who heads the division of infectious diseases at Kobe University Hospital, said: “This is not the right time and place to hold the Olympic Games. Some nations such as India are completely out of control. Many lives of people are at stake. Putting it altogether, this is not the right time to celebrate a huge human sport activity.”

Professor Iwata shot to prominence at the start of the pandemic when he boarded the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship and posted a YouTube video highlighting the poor infection control measures. Now he is similarly critical of the measures in place for Tokyo 2020.

“The measures are fairly sufficient to protect the athletes but the security of the surrounding people – such as coaches, drivers, media – are not really guaranteed under these measures,” says Iwata, who believes all spectators should be banned from the Games, not just those from overseas.

It recently emerged that Tokyo 2020 organisers had asked for 500 extra nurses to leave their hospitals and volunteer at the Games, with 10,000 medical professionals needed at the event overall.

Professor Iwata added: “They are trying to hold the Games and not minding the health of people because of the financial incentives.”

Holding the Games could set back the global fight against Covid-19. A risk of new variants of concern emerging and of infections being taken back to other countries should be of real concern, and particularly what happens after the Olympics.

Team GB athletes

Team GB’s top talent seemingly have no such concerns about how secure their bubble might be.

Olympic champion swimmer Adam Peaty says, “You are only as safe as your own behaviour… I don’t think it’s any different from being here. It’s about trusting the organisers but really it comes down to your own behaviour and making sure you are doing everything possible to not get Covid-19.”

Athletes will not have to quarantine when they arrive in Tokyo, but they will have daily coronavirus tests. They must wear masks except when eating, drinking, sleeping, training, or competing, and their movement will be restricted to their accommodation, training and competition venues.

Team GB have asked the Government if their athletes can receive both doses of the vaccine before they go to Japan, but they also have the option of using Pfizer jabs donated to the International Olympic Committee.

Team GB insists they are a very conditioned team in terms of Covid mitigation and have said they have every confidence that all 370 Team GB athletes will be on the start line fit and well and 100 per cent ready to compete.