A newspaper article in Tokyo was issued today saying that dozens of Japanese towns have dropped their plans to host Olympic athletes. This is due to the concerns of a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, as their medical resources may run low.
The article citing a government source said that 40 out of more than 500 towns registered to accept international athletes have decided not to. Towns would usually provide training camps and cultural exchanges before the global event.
The event was supposed to be the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games but was necessarily postponed to 2021. Currently, it is scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 even though the host city is in a state of emergency.
Other regions in Japan such as the eastern prefecture of Chiba are being hit hard by the pandemic. The U.S track and field team was supposed to stay and train there but were deterred from Chiba’s Governor. As Toshihito Kumagai said athletes will not be guaranteed a hospital bed as they should receive preferential treatment.
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