TOKYO, June 22, 2021—Medical pros and lobbies June 22 warned that if the Japanese government railroads the Tokyo Olympic games, Covid-19 infections woould surge during and after the event, yet PM Suga declared that the games will be held as scheduled and more than 10,000 spectators can attend per game.
That would mean that, if not full, most games could draw 70-80 percent of capacity, and some could be fully seated because that number, 10,000 does not include Olympic Games-related ‘officials’ and school children and students to be invited by the Japan Olympic Committee are not included.
Worse, the opening ceremony attendanc is being adjusted to be as many as 20,000 or even 30,000, committee sources were quoted as saying to Japanese media entities, as the committee is considering admitting sponsor entity guests. The Olympics are ‘a special event,’ some media quoted an official as explaining.
Kabun Muto, a former administrative vice finance minister and director-general of the Olymic committee, said June 21 that officials concerned about the games such as sponsors and school childrend should not be counted as part of the 10,000 threshold. He confirmed that the number of spectators at each event would exceed 10,000, accordinng to the Japanese media.
A barrage of Olympic committee and government officials’ comments came on the heels of a statement of Shigeru Omi, the head of the government’s infectious disease committee, that, if to hold the games, it should be held without spectators.
At a June 22 news conferenc aired for public perusal, Tokyo Medical Association officials warned that if the games are to be held as the government plans, infections would surge.
Why the government is so adamant about holding the games? It’s a great money machine engineered by Heizo Takenaka, a former minister, when PM Suga was reporting to him as Takenaka’s deputy. Takenaka crafted the money machine and presented it to the former Tokyo governor, Shintaro Ishihara, without telling him details. The machine later had come to embrace the former PM Shinzo Abe, other Liberal Democratic Party brass. It has morphed into embracing Covid-19 vaccination operations as well.
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