Chairman of the Japan Doctors Union (JDU), Naoto Ueyama, had warned that there was a high possibility of developing what can be called the “Olympic strain,” should the Tokyo Olympic Games be held in July. Ueyama had indicated that Tokyo’s health care system was already increasingly burdened with rising Covid-19 cases and will not be able to sustain an outbreak. Now, not even a week after the opening ceremony of the sporting event, the Olympics Tokyo Committee has reported an outbreak of 127 positive Covid-19 cases thus far.
“It is dangerous to hold the Olympics here in Tokyo this July, all of the different mutant strains of the virus that exist in different places will be concentrated and gathered here in Tokyo,” he had warned.
The event, initially scheduled in 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 virus. It had been confirmed that the games would now be held on July 23, 2021, with an expectancy of over 11,000 athletes from 200 different countries.
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) had also expressed their apprehension, and called for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to fix the deeply flawed Covid-19 protocols that was published for the Tokyo Olympics, through engagement with sports players, unions and pandemic experts.
Trinidad and Tobago has 20 competing athletes that are participating in the 2021 Tokyo’s Olympic Games.