Tokyo doctors call for cancellation of Olympic Games due to COVID-19

TOKYO: A top medical organisation has thrown its weight behind calls to cancel the Tokyo Olympics, saying that hospitals are already overwhelmed as the country battles a spike in COVID-19 infections less than three months from the start of the Games.

The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000 primary care doctors said that hospitals in the Games' host city "have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity" amid a surge in infections.

"We strongly request that the authorities convince the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games," the association said in a May 14 open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga which was posted to its website on Monday (May 18).

A jump in infections has stoked alarm amid a shortage of medical staff and hospital beds in some areas of the Japanese capital, prompting the government to extend a third state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures until May 31.

"The medical institutions dealing with COVID-19 have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity," the medical association said in its letter.

Doctors would soon face the added difficulty of dealing with heat exhaustion patients during the summer months, and if the Olympics contributed to a rise in deaths "Japan will bear the maximum responsibility", it added.

Other health experts and medical groups have voiced their concerns about the Olympics, while an online petition calling for the Games to be cancelled was signed by hundreds of thousands of people.

READ: More than 80 per cent of Japanese oppose Olympics this summer

READ: Japan expands COVID-19 emergency as 350,000 sign petition to cancel Tokyo Olympics

Overall, Japan has avoided an explosive spread of the virus experienced by other nations, but the government has come under sharp criticism for its sluggish vaccination roll-out.

Only about 3.5 per cent of its population of about 126 million has been vaccinated, according to a Reuters tracker.

Underscoring the challenges with the vaccinations, booking systems for mass inoculation sites being launched in Tokyo and Osaka - which started accepting bookings on Monday - were marred by technical glitches.

But Suga says Japan can host "a safe and secure Olympics" while following appropriate COVID-19 containment measures.

Preparations for the Jul 23 to Aug 8 Games are progressing under tight COVID-19 protocols, with an athletics test event featuring 420 athletes taking place in early May.

The Games have already been postponed once due to the pandemic.

With cases surging across much of Asia, the World Economic Forum on Monday cancelled its annual meeting of the global elite due to be held in Singapore in August.

Under the state of emergency in parts of Japan, bars, restaurants, karaoke parlours and other places serving alcohol will remain closed, although large commercial facilities can reopen under shorter hours. Hard-hit Tokyo and Osaka will continue to keep these larger facilities closed.

The number of new cases nationwide dropped to 3,680 on Monday, the lowest level since Apr 26, according to public broadcaster NHK, but the number of heavy infections hit a record high of 1,235, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

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