Tokyo Olympics: Tokyo and Osaka hit over 1,000 daily Covid-19 infections again
Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis in Japan is never-ending. Indeed, despite deaths of over 10,100 being low when viewed in the international context, Japan is performing worst when compared to the regional nations of China, South Korea, and Taiwan in Northeast Asia. Similarly, the death ratio of the majority of Mekong Delta nations is lower than in Japan.
Hence, with Osaka recently hitting over 1,000 daily coronavirus infections regularly and Tokyo once more today, the focus of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike being on the Olympics is extremely baffling. However, the distraction of both leaders does sum up the tepid response to the coronavirus crisis since deaths began to mount – this concerns the shocking aloofness of both towards the main problem at hand.
Osaka confirmed 44 new deaths today from coronavirus which is a new daily high. Meanwhile, Tokyo declared over 1,000 new daily infections for the first time since late January. Therefore, with less than three months before the Olympics, the coronavirus crisis continues unabated in Japan.
Unlike the first State of Emergency in Japan, the situation is more perilous now. This concerns new coronavirus mutations and the reach of this virus throughout more parts of Japan rather than the first wave. Alongside this, the Suga government is equally aloof to the daily struggles of many people in Japan. Thus, unlike former leader Shinzo Abe who provided 100,000 yen to people during the first wave, the Suga government is putting the responsibility on the people of Japan to manage the crisis by themselves.
Ironically, while Koike wants people to refrain from travel over the Golden Week period, the same politician doesn’t mind welcoming international athletes from all over the world for the Olympics and Paralympics. In most other nations, Suga and Koike would come under greater political pressure from the electorate and media. However, the Liberal Democratic Party usually governs in Japan. Therefore, both political leaders are utilizing the passive nature of society toward the political scene.
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/ – Tokyo Metropolitan Government website for updates about the coronavirus crisis in Tokyo.
https://toyokeizai.net/sp/visual/tko/covid19/en.html – Japan and Tokyo Covid-19 news with more analysis
https://covid19japan.com/ – Japan regional coronavirus statistics
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ World coronavirus statistics
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