A prominent primary-care organization in Japan is calling for the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics because of a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, which represents about 6,000 primary-care physicians, said in an open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga that Tokyo hospitals “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity,” according to Reuters. The Olympic Games are set to begin in Tokyo on July 23.
The association urged Suga to convince the International Olympic Committee to cancel the games. The letter stated that physicians would have the added pressure of handling patients with heat exhaustion during the summer and that if the Olympics contributed to a rise in the death rate, “Japan will bear the maximum responsibility.”
COVID-19 cases have been rising in Japan since March 6, when the seven-day average of new cases hit a low of 934. On May 17, it had reached 5,981, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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The Japanese government has been criticized for a sluggish vaccine rollout. According to Our World In Data, only 3.7% of the population have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 1.6% have been fully vaccinated.
A recent poll by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun found that the majority of the Japanese public does not want the Olympics to begin in July. Forty-three percent said they wanted the Olympics to be canceled, while another 40% said they should be postponed.
Suga has said that Japan can host “a safe and secure Olympics.” The games will be held under strict COVID-19 protocols, according to authorities.
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The Tokyo Olympics were to be held originally in August 2020. They were postponed in March 2020 due to the pandemic.
