Virologist: Tokyo Olympics probably couldn’t be held now

TOKYO — If the Tokyo Olympics were due to take place now, the games probably couldn’t be held because of the fast-spreading virus from Wuhan, China, a noted Japanese virologist said Wednesday, calling for planning ahead of the summer’s international sports extravaganza.

“We need to find the best way to have a safe Olympics,” Dr. Hitoshi Oshitani said at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. “Right now we don’t have an effective strategy, and I think it may be difficult to have the Olympics (now). But by the end of July we may be in a different situation.”

The local Tokyo Olympic organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee have repeatedly said over the past few weeks that they are following the advice of the World Health Organization and that the games will go on.

But with every passing day, the impact of the virus seems to spread, and so does the fallout. Olympic qualifying events are being canceled or postponed, travel has been difficult, and athletes and families are left wondering, as are sponsors and broadcasting networks that have invested billions of dollars in the Olympics. The Tokyo Marathon announced earlier this week it was scaling back the race to allow only a few hundred elite athletes to run on Feb. 29. Japan has more than 600 confirmed coronavirus cases, but only one death reported so far.

The modern Olympics dating from 1896 have only been canceled during the world wars, and in 1980 and 1984 they went on with boycotts.

Oshitani, a former adviser with the WHO who worked on the SARS outbreak almost 20 years ago, was hopeful but sowed some uncertainty about the July 24-Aug. 9 Olympics.

“I’m not sure (of) the situation in Japan at the end of July,” he said. “But probably we will not have large outbreaks in Japan in July.”

Oshitani said he was most concerned about a “Wuhan-type” of outbreak taking place in Africa or other parts of Asia and having cases imported into Japan. He said if that happened “it may get difficult to have” the Olympics. But he also suggested Japan might be able to handle it.

“So what we have to do now is try to prevent such a thing from happening,” he added, saying the Japanese government should support countries so they don’t have “that kind of situation.”

Earlier this week, Shigeru Omi, a former regional director of the WHO and an infectious disease expert from Japan, also said he could not be sure about the Olympics.

“Whether the outbreak will last until the Olympic date or not depends upon the virus and the societal effort and joint international community,” he said. “Nobody can predict whether we can contain the virus or put an end to this outbreak before the Olympics start. That’s anybody’s guess.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2v2aacV