Former Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare: "If COVID-19 is not ended by the end of April, Tokyo Olympics Out"

In March 2016, during his tenure as Governor of Jeollanam-do, former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon (left) visited Japan and shook hands with Yoichi Masuzoe, then Governor of Tokyo Metropolitan Government, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building.

Photo by Jeollanam-do

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Yoichi Masuzoe, former Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan and former Governor of Tokyo Metropolis, expressed the view that the Tokyo Olympics would be difficult to hold if the COVID-19 situation is not resolved by the end of next month. Masuzoe served as Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare from August 2007 to August 2009 during the final period of the first Shinzo Abe cabinet.

On the 7th, Masuzoe wrote on his Twitter, "If (COVID-19) is not ended by the end of April, which is one month earlier than the end of May, the Tokyo Olympics will be out." He added, "The novel influenza I dealt with as Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare had a short incubation and recovery period, allowing responses on a weekly basis. This virus (COVID-19) has an incubation and recovery period of two weeks to a month, so it can only be assessed on a monthly basis."

The Japanese government has previously stated that the decision on whether to hold the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for July 24 this year would be made by the end of May. However, Masuzoe evaluated that if the COVID-19 situation is not settled one month earlier, it would be difficult to hold the Olympics as planned.

He also expressed a skeptical stance regarding Prime Minister Abe’s measures to effectively restrict entry by quarantining people arriving from South Korea and China for two weeks and suspending the validity of visas issued by those countries. Masuzoe pointed out, "There will be a mass early return this weekend. It’s a loophole to escape."

He criticized the quarantine measures at airports and ports aimed at blocking the regional inflow of the infectious disease, saying, "It is merely buying time. At the stage where infections are occurring throughout Japan, it doesn’t have much meaning," and added, "It hinders economic and social activities and the negative impact is greater."