Japanese PM: No Link Between Tokyo Olympics And Spike In COVID-19 Infections

Ilustrasi PM Jepang Yoshihide Suga. (Wikimedia Commons / Prime Minister's Office Homepage)

JAKARTA - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in a statement Friday local time that there was no connection between the ongoing Tokyo Olympics and the surge in COVID-19 infection cases that hit a record high in Tokyo.

On the other hand, PM Suga said a number of protocols and precautionary steps had been taken by the Tokyo Olympics organizers, to prevent the spread of infections related to athletes, coaches and support staff.

Prime Minister Suga further said the measures included the number of people arriving in Japan for the Olympics and Paralympics had been reduced to about a third from the 180,000 originally estimated, with border controls at airports preventing them from making contact with the public.

"We implemented these measures thoroughly, so I don't believe (the Olympics) is the cause of" the sharp increase in infections," he said at a news conference after deciding to expand the current COVID-19 state of emergency beyond Tokyo, citing Kyodo News Friday. July 30.

The highly contagious Delta variant has pushed daily COVID-19 cases to record highs in recent days in Tokyo and other parts of the country. On Thursday, the nationwide daily case tally topped 10,000 for the first time, with Tokyo reporting 3,865 new infections, hitting a record for the third straight day.

On the occasion, PM Suga repeated his call for the Japanese public to stay home during the summer holidays and watch the Olympics on TV, hours after the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Friday's daily number of infections reached 3,300.

Meanwhile, the Olympics organizing committee on Friday reported 27 cases of infection linked to the quadrennial Games, the highest daily number since it started counting infections earlier this month.

With this addition, the cumulative total becomes 220, consisting of 18 Japanese citizens and nine from overseas, including three athletes. Of the daily total, two athletes and officials related to the competition live in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic athletes village.

One of the infected athletes is on the United States athletic team, organizers said. Pole jumper Sam Kendricks, a two-time world champion, on Thursday withdrew from the match after testing positive for COVID-19.

In addition to the three athletes, those who have tested positive for COVID-19 are 15 contractors, four match-related officials, four volunteers and one media crew, according to the organizing committee. The number of the committee does not include those announced by the central and local governments in Japan.