New Delhi: It’s like a sports lover forced to watch a game with a gun put to his head. A global event few locals are interested to attend! No enthusiasm. No razzmatazz.
If anything, they still want it cancelled as the country reluctantly braces for the Tokyo Olympic Games to kick off on July 23 in near-empty stadia and playgrounds in and around the Japanese capital.
Most Japanese are praying for their safety at least until August 8 when the Games would come to an end.
But the stressed Japanese government and the International Olympics Committee (IOC), which had postponed the Games in 2020 due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, are going ahead with the event, despite warnings from a scared medical fraternity and the disinterest of society fearing a fresh wave of the pandemic due to arrival of some 80,000 foreigners from all over the world.
On Thursday, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga decided to place Tokyo under the fourth state of emergency for the duration of the upcoming Olympics to curb a recent rise in Covid-19 cases.
The Tokyo Olympics, postponed last year, are now scheduled to take place from July 23. The state of emergency will come into force on July 12 and remain in force until August 22.
“We are hoping to keep people from moving around during the summer break and the Bon holidays until vaccinations move further along,” Kyodo News quoted Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the nation’s Covid-19 response, as saying, media reported on Thursday.
According to the Japanese media, the organisers are now likely to completely bar spectators from all competition venues in Tokyo and three surrounding areas. The Games’ organisers may meet with local and national government officials and the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees soon to take a final decision on this matter.
While Japan has so far experienced a relatively small coronavirus outbreak, with around 14,900 deaths despite avoiding harsh lockdowns, its vaccination programme has moved comparatively slowly.
Just over 15 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated so far, and there are concerns that the dreaded Delta variant could produce a new wave that might quickly overwhelm local medical resources. To Japan’s east, Indonesia has already reported a fresh outbreak and deaths due to oxygen shortage.
Overseas sports fans have already been barred from attending the Games, and organisers said in June that they would limit local spectators to 10,000 people or 50 per cent of the venue capacity. Besides, even these fewer spectators will have to follow a stricter Covid-19 Appropriate Behaviour (CAB). They will not be allowed to crowd around, nor cheer up the sportspersons in groups.
The organizers are also thinking of reducing the spectators’ numbers further or even holding the Games behind closed doors if the virus situation worsened and tougher restrictions were imposed in Tokyo.
IOC chief Thomas Bach arrived in Tokyo on Thursday and will have to undergo a three-day quarantine before being allowed limited movement.
The Games participants have already begun arriving in Japan, with 11,000 Olympic athletes from around 200 countries set to take part. They will not generally have to observe a full 14-day quarantine but will face restrictions during their time in Japan, with athletes limited to venues and the Olympic Village and tested daily for the virus.
The Tokyo Olympics is struggling to build momentum and enthusiasm for the Games as the final countdown begins.
A torch relay that was supposed to trigger excitement as it travelled nationwide has been taken off public roads in much of Japan over virus risks, and even its legs in the capital will now be held without spectators.
And fans have been asked to avoid the route of the Olympic marathon when it is run in northern Hokkaido.
Polls show most Japanese would prefer the Games be postponed again or cancelled outright, though the opposition has softened in recent weeks, according to media reports.
