Post by Phaedrus on Jun 17, 2021 14:59:57 GMT -5
www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01293-9/fulltext
With 6 weeks until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games begin, concerns over the safety of the Games amid the COVID-19 pandemic are intensifying. Public health experts have expressed strong reservations about how well the risks are being mitigated in articles and before parliamentary committees. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are now deeply unpopular in Japan: lengthy petitions have been signed, 10 000 volunteers have resigned, and several opinion polls have shown that most respondents thought the Games should be postponed or cancelled. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has the ultimate power to decide on the Games but has huge economic and reputational incentives to continue, as does the Japanese Government. Both insist that the Games will go ahead safely. Writing on June 4, Kaori Yamaguchi, executive member of the Japanese Olympic Committee, suggested that the decision is a fait accompli. “We have been cornered into a situation where we cannot even stop now. We are damned if we do, and damned if we do not.” Is Yamaguchi right? Are we sliding into a dangerous Games? And shouldn't all who have a stake also have a voice?
The Games are a global event, happening amid a global health crisis. Control and prevention of COVID-19, including vaccination, are highly variable worldwide. Although international spectators have been barred, 15 000 athletes from more than 200 countries will travel to Tokyo, as well as nearly 80 000 officials, journalists, and support staff. Their vaccination is not mandatory and mixing could risk avoidable transmission of SARS-CoV-2, including emerging viral variants, seeding fresh outbreaks when attendees return home. The Games might also adversely affect the COVID-19 situation within Japan, where case numbers are falling, but several regions remain under a state of emergency. Japan's vaccination roll-out has been sluggish, with 3·4% of the population immunised. As The Lancet goes to press, no final decision has been made on whether domestic fans can attend, but doctors are concerned about the pressure on health services. The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, representing around 6000 primary care doctors, has written to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga calling for the Games to be halted, saying that Tokyo's hospitals “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity”.
With 6 weeks until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games begin, concerns over the safety of the Games amid the COVID-19 pandemic are intensifying. Public health experts have expressed strong reservations about how well the risks are being mitigated in articles and before parliamentary committees. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are now deeply unpopular in Japan: lengthy petitions have been signed, 10 000 volunteers have resigned, and several opinion polls have shown that most respondents thought the Games should be postponed or cancelled. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has the ultimate power to decide on the Games but has huge economic and reputational incentives to continue, as does the Japanese Government. Both insist that the Games will go ahead safely. Writing on June 4, Kaori Yamaguchi, executive member of the Japanese Olympic Committee, suggested that the decision is a fait accompli. “We have been cornered into a situation where we cannot even stop now. We are damned if we do, and damned if we do not.” Is Yamaguchi right? Are we sliding into a dangerous Games? And shouldn't all who have a stake also have a voice?
The Games are a global event, happening amid a global health crisis. Control and prevention of COVID-19, including vaccination, are highly variable worldwide. Although international spectators have been barred, 15 000 athletes from more than 200 countries will travel to Tokyo, as well as nearly 80 000 officials, journalists, and support staff. Their vaccination is not mandatory and mixing could risk avoidable transmission of SARS-CoV-2, including emerging viral variants, seeding fresh outbreaks when attendees return home. The Games might also adversely affect the COVID-19 situation within Japan, where case numbers are falling, but several regions remain under a state of emergency. Japan's vaccination roll-out has been sluggish, with 3·4% of the population immunised. As The Lancet goes to press, no final decision has been made on whether domestic fans can attend, but doctors are concerned about the pressure on health services. The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, representing around 6000 primary care doctors, has written to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga calling for the Games to be halted, saying that Tokyo's hospitals “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity”.
