[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga insisted on holding the Olympics despite COVID-19, pledging a "safe and secure" Olympics, but the number of confirmed cases has been skyrocketing day by day. In particular, the daily number of COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, where the Olympics are being held, has exceeded 3,000, setting new daily records and raising growing concerns about Olympic quarantine measures.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 29th, Tokyo announced that 3,177 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed the previous day. This marked a record high for the second consecutive day. The number of new infections in the four prefectures of the metropolitan area, including Tokyo, was 5,675, which is about 30% higher than the previous record of 4,327 on January 9. Accordingly, the nationwide number of confirmed COVID-19 cases also exceeded 9,000 for the first time, reaching 9,583.
As a result, three metropolitan local governments in the metropolitan area?Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama prefectures?are reportedly considering declaring a state of emergency. A decision is expected as early as the 30th.
The previous day, Kuro Iwauchi, Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, pointed out, "The number of infections is rapidly increasing, and it is necessary to declare a state of emergency to share a sense of crisis."
Toshihito Kumagai, Governor of Chiba Prefecture, also stated on Facebook, "We are in consultation with the government to request a state of emergency declaration," adding, "The state of emergency declaration is not something the governor can issue alone; it must be issued in consultation with the government."
As the Tokyo Olympics are in full swing, the daily record-breaking number of COVID-19 cases has put the relaxed Olympic quarantine measures under scrutiny. The Mainichi Shimbun pointed out on the 23rd that since the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, athletes have been seen hugging or cheering without wearing masks. Although the playbook mandates mask-wearing and specifies penalties such as disqualification for violations, it appears that these rules are not being strictly enforced in practice.
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