U.S. Issues Travel Ban Ahead Of Olympics, Japan: No Effect

Illustration of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (Wikimedia Commons/Tokyo-Good)

JAKARTA - Japanese authorities are not worried about the exit of the country's travel ban, issued by the United States Department of State (U.S.), ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

In addition to not worrying about the impact of the ban, Japanese authorities are also confident that the United States' support for the Tokyo Olympics in less than two months will not change.

While not specifically mentioning the Olympics, the United States State Department issued a warning not to visit Japan anytime soon.

"At the moment, we do not see any special impact," Olympic Minister Tamayo Murakami said at a press conference, according to Reuters Tuesday, May 25.

He said the travel ban was not included for essential travel and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committees. According to him, the planned mitigation prepared, will make the United States contingent compete safely.

Top Japanese officials and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have promised that the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead as planned on July 23 after being postponed in 2020,

Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said, Japan is in close contact with the United States Government. And, the United States' support for the implementation of the Olympics is believed to remain the same.

"There has been absolutely no change in the United States' support for Japan's decision to host the Olympics, we are confident," Kato said.

Earlier, the United States State Department on Monday urged against travel to Japan because of a new wave of coronavirus cases.

In its new guidelines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says travelers should avoid all travel to Japan.

"Due to the current situation in Japan, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk of being exposed to and spreading variants of COVID-19," the statement said.

Separately, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which oversees all of Uncle Sam's athletes, said it was aware of the ban.

"We are confident that the current mitigation practices applied to athletes and staff by the USOPC and the Tokyo Organizing Committee, coupled with pre-travel testing, on arrival in Japan and during Games time, will allow safe participation of Team USA in this summer's Olympics," the committee said in a statement.