A top medical organisation has thrown its weight behind calls to cancel the Tokyo Olympics saying hospitals are already overwhelmed as the country battles a spike in coronavirus infections less than three months from the start of the Games.
The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000 primary care doctors said hospitals in the Games host city “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity” amid a surge in infections.
In an open letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says “We strongly request that the authorities convince the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games,”
A jump in infections has stoked alarm amid a shortage of medical staff and hospital beds in some areas of the Japanese capital, promoting the government to extend a third state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures until May 31.
Local governments of towns hosting Olympic events outside Tokyo also say they have no hospital beds to spare and refuse to set aside facilities for athletes when they are needed for local residents.
The 2020 Games, already postponed by a year because of the pandemic, are scheduled to begin in 66 days. Suga insists that the games, which will be held without foreign spectators, will proceed as scheduled.
