Japan, the host country of the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games next summer, has closed its borders to most foreign nationals after 5 new cases of the new UK-based coronavirus variant were detected in the country. The Japanese closure takes effect on December 28.
The variant, known as B.1.1.7, has set off alarm bells around the world after first being detected in the United Kingdom after scientists said that it could possibly spread more rapidly than other variants of the virus that has ground the world to a halt over the last year.
While the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines are expected to be effective against this new strain, countries around the world have raced to delay the spread of B.1.1.7 by re-closing their borders. Much of the world has now closed borders, or announced that they will close borders, to travelers from the UK, where the variant was first detected.
In lockstep with these new closures, Japan has suspended general ticket sales for the upcoming Emperor’s Cup soccer match that is scheduled for January 1, 2021 amid a rise in coronavirus cases. The event is significant to the Olympic movement because it is the official football (soccer) test event for the upcoming Olympic Games. The semi-final matches on Sunday and the finals next week are being held at the 60,000+ Olympic Stadium that was built to host the opening and closing ceremonies and track & field events at the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games, along with portions of events in other sports.
Tickets already sold for the event will still be valid, with 16,000 reportedly sold. Spectator numbers for sporting events in Japan will be capped at 5,000 for venues with capacities greater than 10,000.
Japan, due to its geographic proximity to China where the first outbreaks of the novel coronavirus were found, closed its borders and enacted strict measures early on to try and control the spread of the virus.
In spite of an aging population, Japan’s per capita death rate and infection rate from the coronavirus is one of the lowest in the developed world. The country has reported just over 213,000 case of coronavirus leading to 3,155 deaths across a population of 126.5 million people.
The country has reported about 1,691 cases per 1 million population and 25 deaths per 1 million population. That’s as compared to rates of 58,274-per-million infections and 1,023-per-million deaths in the United States, which has the highest-reported infection rates in the world among countries with a population greater than 11 million people.
The Toky 2020 Olympic Games are scheduled to take place from July 23-August 8, 2021. IOC president Thomas Bach said earlier this month that he was ‘very confident’ that the Olympics would go on in 2021. Upcoming test events after the Emperor’s Cup are the Boccia operational test from February 29-March 1, the Sport Climbing test event from March 6-8, and the artistic swimming test event at the Tokyo Aquatics Center from March 4-7.
Other aquatics test events are scheduled for April, including water polo from April 10-11, diving from April 18-23, and pool swimming from April 24-25. The Marathon Swimming test event was held in August of 2019.
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Now I’m waiting for liberals to start praising closed borders
Nah, you’ll get a bigger discussion about USRPT or Lochte’s chances about making the Olympic team, than closed borders at this point.
This is not a political issue- just a health one.
330,000 deaths in the United States is not real praiseworthy.
Japanese Gov and people are very strict when it comes to protecting their own people, not like
In USA , where we play drama with fire and death. When it comes to protecting and save lives , your politics, ideology or mindset won’t
Help you out. I am sure those who losted a family member or work day and night to combat this virus would be saying the otherwise. People who mostly express their trumpism on internet towards their fellow Americans by using this virus as talking point, are those who haven’t been affected in anywhere and selfish.
Enough with the bashing of the U.S.A we know you are jealous. You sound sad.
I losted a family member. My gamma Nonie was 93 years old. She was an amazing person, from Russia and always the life of the party. She died of Covid-19, but also had heart disease, cancer, hemorrhoids, was blind and due to 4 strokes was paralyzed. She proudly voted for and supported President Trump until her last breath.
Ugh, yet again virus gonna virus (they all mutate, and almost every one becomes less severe in its mutation…early actual science indicates the same thing here), and yet…governments still keep doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.
Yep, not looking good for the games if the host country is overreacting like this
The virus is at its worst since the pandemic began, so this decision makes sense. If it gets better then open back up. It’s seems pretty straight forward.
Is it, though? Define “at its worst”. And if so, then apparently all of these government interventions a) haven’t worked, and could theoretically be argued that b) they’re making things “worse”.
And to use “this virus is mutating” as a way for the governments/media to portray more negative connotations is antithetical messaging to how biology/science actually works. Although, that seems to be par for the course, so it’s unfortunately not shocking.
I must not be reading the right blogs, because you seem very confident in what you’ve written, but it all comes across as gibberish to me.
What are the positive connotations of a global pandemic that has killed 1.8 million people around the world?
The virus is at its worst in the United States, where at worst there are no restrictions and at best they are being largely ignored. Countries where they’re being enforced and where the population cares enough about their fellow citizens to not want them dead (Italy, Australia) are not at their worst.
Why don’t we fine fat people? They’re a drain on the healthcare system. And they’re totally responsible for their situation. The selfishness they show is sickening.
What an awful rhetoric technique. Just throw everything you’ve got at the wall and hope it sticks.
What does that response have to do with this thread?
Mike take heart as most logical and intelligent people will agree with your position. However, we must also include the oldest segment of our population. If we cancel Medicare and Medicaid we rid our society of a huge drain. Given the sensibilities of the Great Reset, Blue Wave, BLM, Antifa and the Democratic Party we will once again become a great nation and leading world power again! Heil Biden.
Really hesitant to reply and posting without comment, but I read today that people with comorbidities will be at the head of the line for the vaccine, and that list included the obese. Mixed emotions on that decision, for sure.
To say “this virus is mutating, it’s going to get worse” is nothing more than government/media messaging of more negative connotations that frankly are anti-science. Without understanding testing frequency now vs earlier in the year, to say “it’s worse now” isn’t a proper comparison. To see over and over that general locales rise and fall in unison, regardless of mitigation strategies (see the Dakotas in November/December, or FL/TX/AZ/CA in July, or European countries close to each other at any given point in time, etc) and disregard that data is at best cognitive dissonance. Hell, to see what California is attempting to do right now relative to the data flies in the face of logic. And to boil this down to… Read more »
The Dr. makes a good point and CA is a prime example. Strictest lockdowns around and infections going through the roof.
Just a quick look at the worldometer stats page shows the highest daily case rates and daily death rates in Japan, as well as most other countries. When you shut things down the rates go down, when you open back up the rates go up. This will continue until the vaccine is readily available and we achieve heard immunity.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/japan/
Or if you can time out the shutdowns, it makes you look like a genius (while nature is doing nature things)….note France vs UK’s “shutdown” dates. Or again…see what’s happening in California.
The shutdowns aren’t meant to end the pandemic, just slow the spread when things get out of control.
And yet, despite the fear mongering, we haven’t actually had overwhelmed/overflowed (especially when taking into account year-to-year comparisons) hospitalizations. We’re on almost Day 300 of “15 days to flatten the curve”. In which the seasonality and nature have a significantly larger “control” of the virus than humans every could’ve hoped to have had.
In 1980 did they host the Olympic trials after the Olympics got cancelled?
I wonder if that’s what’s going to happen this year – they just have a national championship with semi finals at IUPUI inviting top 24 or so and just call it the 2020/2021 Olympic Team.
The Olympics were not cancelled in 1980. More countries attended than boycotted. Japan joined the boycott on May 24, 1980.
At this point just do a virtual olympics because it’s not going to happen in Japan.
Correct no-one in their right mind will go to Japan for the Olympics – they are too close to China too!
great point. when you think about it, to be an olympian you are our national champion or runner up in an olympic year. to go to the olympics isn’t necessarily necessary
The 1980 Games were not cancelled, just boycotted by certain nations (including the US) protesting Soviet military involvement in Afghanistan. Most all of the American sports federations went ahead and selected teams, even after President Carter announced our non-participation.