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Security officers stand guard next to Olympic Rings monument during an anti-Olympics rally outside the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) headquarters in Tokyo, June 14 2021. Picture: REUTERS/ISSEI KATO
The Tokyo Olympics could be an uplifting global event, a showcase of human achievement amid the hardships of the Covid-19 pandemic. It could also be a super-spreader event: either of the disease itself, or of the dangerous and premature notion that the pandemic is over.
The International Olympics Committee and host Japan have a responsibility to ensurethe games area cause only for celebration. With so much of the world still battling the coronavirus and its emerging variants, the Olympics must be held under the strictest safeguards — including, if necessary for some events, without fans.
Originally scheduled for 2020, the Olympics are now set to begin on July 23. That they are going ahead at all has been cause for consternation in Japan, where only 7% of the population has been fully vaccinated and 83% of respondents in a May poll wanted the games cancelled or postponed. In a controversial decision, officials ignored the advice of the government’s top medical adviser and will allow up to 10,000 domestic spectators at events.
In the right circumstances it is possible to hold large sporting events safely — Japan’s baseball and soccer leagues have successfully reopened at reduced capacity. And the government has ordered Olympics spectators to wear masks, refrain from cheering and go right home after events (without stopping at a restaurant, for instance). If followed — good luck on that cheering ban — those rules should reduce the risk. Officials have also said they’re willing to shift gears and bar spectators completely if disease numbers increase. And to the officials’ credit, they did avoid the traditional practice of convening Olympics spectators from around the world.
Hopefully, they will consider the worldwide ramifications of such decisions and err on the side of caution. In many countries pandemic fatigue is setting in, and compliance with public health rules seems to be waning. Beamed worldwide, images of fans at indoor Olympic events risks fuelling that trend and sending the message that the pandemic is over. It’s not. Worldwide, only about 10% of people are fully vaccinated, and worldwide more than 8,000 people die from Covid-19 every day. Variants remain a dangerous wild card./Boston, June 22
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
BOSTON GLOBE
BOSTON GLOBE: A challenging Olympics
The Tokyo Olympics could be an uplifting global event, a showcase of human achievement amid the hardships of the Covid-19 pandemic. It could also be a super-spreader event: either of the disease itself, or of the dangerous and premature notion that the pandemic is over.
The International Olympics Committee and host Japan have a responsibility to ensure the games are a cause only for celebration. With so much of the world still battling the coronavirus and its emerging variants, the Olympics must be held under the strictest safeguards — including, if necessary for some events, without fans.
Originally scheduled for 2020, the Olympics are now set to begin on July 23. That they are going ahead at all has been cause for consternation in Japan, where only 7% of the population has been fully vaccinated and 83% of respondents in a May poll wanted the games cancelled or postponed. In a controversial decision, officials ignored the advice of the government’s top medical adviser and will allow up to 10,000 domestic spectators at events.
In the right circumstances it is possible to hold large sporting events safely — Japan’s baseball and soccer leagues have successfully reopened at reduced capacity. And the government has ordered Olympics spectators to wear masks, refrain from cheering and go right home after events (without stopping at a restaurant, for instance). If followed — good luck on that cheering ban — those rules should reduce the risk. Officials have also said they’re willing to shift gears and bar spectators completely if disease numbers increase. And to the officials’ credit, they did avoid the traditional practice of convening Olympics spectators from around the world.
Hopefully, they will consider the worldwide ramifications of such decisions and err on the side of caution. In many countries pandemic fatigue is setting in, and compliance with public health rules seems to be waning. Beamed worldwide, images of fans at indoor Olympic events risks fuelling that trend and sending the message that the pandemic is over. It’s not. Worldwide, only about 10% of people are fully vaccinated, and worldwide more than 8,000 people die from Covid-19 every day. Variants remain a dangerous wild card. /Boston, June 22
The Boston Globe
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