The logo of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games hangs on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office building. Photo: REUTERS/Issei Kato/File
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Doctor warns holding Games could lead to 'Olympic virus' strain

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By Rocky Swift and Elaine Lies

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Beyond a joke now. CANCEL THIS EVENT.

41 ( +46 / -5 )

As long as it is not the "Japanese Olympic" or "Tokyo Olympic" strain the government won't care about that either as of course it is then just another foreigner strain, nothing to do with them.

37 ( +40 / -3 )

Doctor warns holding Games could lead to 'Olympic virus' strain

That's UNPOSSIBLE!!!!!

This is Japan!

We are number 3 in the world!

We do no wrong!!!!!

slaps..............

30 ( +32 / -2 )

Do some of you here also notice we get the daily covid numbers ever later in the online newspapers ?

that also the Japanese tv broadcasters do not show live on screen updates anymore ?

only NHK news gives updates at 19h00 abd 21h00.

25 ( +27 / -2 )

Just like in Jaws, the stupid greedy mayor doesn't want to close the beaches for the summer...

23 ( +28 / -5 )

have all vowed the Games will go ahead, albeit under strict virus prevention measures. 

No there measures are not strict, they are frightening useless and based on out of date protocols and science and cheap measures designed to save money. E.g. using a contract tracing app instead of a wearable device despite the advice from medical professionals.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/sports/olympics/tokyo-olympics-cancel.html

22 ( +26 / -4 )

This is what I've been wondering; that don't the members of the IOC and TOC, Suga, etc, care about the tarnished reputation and image of the Olympics, and of Tokyo, and of Japan? Won't this mess have a negative impact for years to come?

But then I realise, that no. They do not care about things like that - they separate themselves from the bigger picture. They only care of their current and instant personal gain, i.e. whether they get their massive pay checks and whether their personal investments are financially profitable. Money makes people do ugly things.

20 ( +21 / -1 )

Yeah i was thinking the same thing not two days ago. Mix up all the strains then send back to all the countries of the world. What a great plan, you couldn't have designed a better one if you tried.

And they'll do it too

Apparently Seychelles wasn't enough of an example

18 ( +20 / -2 )

The "IOC Strain" sounds appropriate to me.

18 ( +20 / -2 )

Now now doctor! The pols, bureaucrats, NHK, and IOC know better. Now sit down and zip it sir.

17 ( +19 / -2 )

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Japan would continue making every effort to control the virus irrespective of the Olympics.

And how has that been working out for you Mr. Kato? Answer: That would be as they say SNAFU or FUBAR. Take your pick.

16 ( +17 / -1 )

Let's call it the Bach-Coates variant.

16 ( +16 / -0 )

CNN's Sanjay Gupta today said, vaccinations are voluntary, many athletes don't plan to vaccinate because they fear it may affect their performance and the Tokyo 2020 may end up be the biggest mass spreading event in the world.

16 ( +18 / -2 )

Can't help but notice that the #s come in a bit later each day.

Maybe the fax machine is running out of steam.....

Maybe they are deciding how "accurate to be."

15 ( +15 / -0 )

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Japan would continue making every effort to control the virus

Continue? Haven't you got to start something before you continue?

Commuter trains are packed every day.

Testing is carefully restricted to less than 10% of the 60,000 per day Koike promised us LAST DECEMBER.

Contract tracing - nope, just didn't happen - just give the Dentsu boys a nice fat bundle of our cash for an app to track the spectators - who aren't coming anyway. Drinks all round! (unless the Nagatacho boys get caught in the steak restaurant again).

Vaccination - rapidly catching up to Zimbabwe and Laos.

Don't talk to me about continuing, Mr. Kato, you hair-dyed carpetbagger. Maybe actually do something for once in your privileged LDP life.

14 ( +16 / -2 )

robert maesToday 04:18 pm JST

Do some of you here also notice we get the daily covid numbers ever later in the online newspapers ?

At least they report them. Some British newspapers like the Daily Mail simply stopped reporting on pandemic deaths in the UK when the numbers hit their peak.

All of the different mutant strains of the virus which exist in different places will be concentrated and gathering here in Tokyo. We cannot deny the possibility of even a new strain of the virus potentially emerging after the Olympics," he told a news conference.

What about the Japan strain that emerged a couple of months ago, Dr. Ueyama? The one that mysteriously disappeared from all Japanese media a couple of days after it first appeared. Did the Health Ministry offer you "guidance" on how to discuss it?

13 ( +15 / -2 )

So we'll have an original Olympic strain? Something for the history books

12 ( +13 / -1 )

Won't this mess have a negative impact for years to come? 

Yeah, but just like Fukushima there is always a chance for international redemption and these Olympic Games are showing the world that we can overcome any hurdles we c...

Oh, erm...

12 ( +15 / -3 )

How obstinate are these people who keep pushing for these damn games ?

Leading health professionals openly telling them the reality but they keep their heads firmly shoved in the sand !

12 ( +15 / -3 )

If there is one thing we can say with confidence it's that the virus will continue to mutate. This will happen with or without the olympics. But the olympics are a bad idea for so many other reasons that we should just cancel and start focusing on vaccinations.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Yeah, let's bring all the variants around the world together! What a great idea! NOT!

These variants will marry each other and their offsprings will be the Olympic variant!

10 ( +12 / -2 )

And if it does happen, Japan politicians will suffer no consequences, and that is why Olympics will happen no matter what. Japanese politicians gets to make their money while maintaining power. Japan could be burning and the LDP will still be winning in a landslide. The only way that the LDP could lose is if the politicians themselves change parties, but the politicians will never change, Japanese voters may not support the current policies, but they will never vote for people without proper heritage.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

That would make a great omiyage to bring home to your family and friends!

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Gonna put a dampener on the homecoming parades. Are you sure all the athletes will stay isolated in a hotel room for 2 weeks clutching their medal?

9 ( +11 / -2 )

I would not have thought that image of Olympics could get any worse, but if this "Olympic strain" really happens, it will be blackened for ever. Bach and Coates will be in history books as the ones responsible for the Olympic strain that killed millions...

8 ( +11 / -3 )

I can’t have a beer in my local restaurant because I might get too excited and spray some particles.

But an Olympic athlete will find himself or herself in Tokyo, absolutely not go sightseeing, not mingle, win a medal, sit in quarantine for 2 weeks.

Sounds like the same plan as stopping alcohol in restaurants and will have the same result; large groups screaming and shouting at the station surrounded by empty Strong Zero cans.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Do some of you here also notice we get the daily covid numbers ever later in the online newspapers ?

that also the Japanese tv broadcasters do not show live on screen updates anymore ?

That was announced by Koike about 1 week ago.

They changed the evaluation time from 3pm to 4:45pm.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

菅IOCオリンピック変異ウイルス(Suga IOC olympic strain)Would be a nice name.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

From what I understand of how viruses mutate the following quote makes sense to me.

"All of the different mutant strains of the virus which exist in different places will be concentrated and gathering here in Tokyo. We cannot deny the possibility of even a new strain of the virus potentially emerging after the Olympics,"

The Olympics are attracting people from literally all corners of the Earth so it seems that this would be a risk which certainly needs to be considered. It would be terrible for Japan and the Olympics to be remembered for something such as this.

I do not think the Japanese LDP, Japan organizers, or IOC care at all about this or the Japanese people.

Considering it from this point of view it seems they do not care about anyone else in the world as long as they get their games. They will be driven around everywhere, isolated in 5 star hotels while those of us who live here are in crowded trains, and then leave any mess that may occur behind. The Japanese government and officials will similarly be driven in private cars and guaranteed an ICU should they get sick.

These guys are hell bent on holding these games regardless of the cost or what anyone says.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

The time has come for the people of Japan to take matters into their hands by holding daily demonstrations across the nation rejecting this utterly ill decision to hold the games, and it is time to start investigating the people behind it and hold them accountable.

If this is not a national security threat, then I don't know what is?

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Kenji Shibuya, director of the Institute of Population Health at King’s College, London, who has recently been helping the vaccination campaign in Japan, played down dangers specific to the Games.

Kenji Shibuya, is neither a virologist, immunologist or in any branch of medicine or science that studies & researches viruses. He is an administrator. Whatever his expertise in management of public health, as an advisor to the Japanese government, not much to show for his involvement. Playing down the dangers indicates some manner of PR Spin or media management to create a false narrative. After all, he's on the team that is intent on holding the games, no matter the cost.

"Mutation takes place when the virus stays in immunocompromised or partially immunized people for a long period of time," Shibuya said. "So the current situation in Japan is more dangerous than (during) the Tokyo Games, in my opinion."

Shibuya, offers an opinion not a statement of facts or noted research. Indeed the mutation has taken place in various areas of the world. Those variants, which are more virulent will arrive in Japan and be spread by patterns of contact. Which will enter the general population and Mr. Shibuya's observation will be true to form: it will spread during the games and afterwards gain exponential infection rates.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Can you expect all of those precious athletes to agree to a two week quarantine period after being at the Olympics? Whine, moan... and the respective governments relent because the highly strung sports people can't bear to be locked in for a fortnight.

The doctor is right - cancel and so kill off the Japan/Olympic variant before it starts.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Hold the Olympics, let the number of infections skyrocket and then blame the foreigners who came for the event as reason for the increase… that’s the plan of the Japanese Government and Tokyo Olympic Committee!

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Well we will all be affected with this new virus variant and everyone on the morning rush hours to work will have spread it along some where. Hope this doesn't turn out disastrous for not taking medical experts advise.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Let’s face it, the only thing that would get the IOC to stop pushing for the games would be a report stating “Economic expert says the Tokyo Olympics would lose money for all involved parties”. You’d see a cancellation announcement nanoseconds after that.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

former IOC vice president Dick Pound said later in the day the sports extravaganza should and would go ahead.

There are supposed to be many other sports events across Japan, most of which are now under threat or largely "sacrificed" in favor of the Olympics. Putting aside public heath concerns, it's still unfair and unreasonable.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

So prime athletes with strong immune systems and an Olympic strain is born... How does the vast majority of Japanese people (that are old) going to survive?

5 ( +7 / -2 )

This John Coates...

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Honestly... the very, very few uber proud ultra rightists in government who want this to go through, I can't wait to see whom they blame it on when the whole world doesn't call it the "China virus", or what have you, but honestly blames the Japan-Olympics Variant for so much chaos around the world, and that is the only thing the Olympics will be remembered for. Japan will say, "It's not our fault! The IOC said it will happen regardless! There was nothing we could do!" then turn around and say, "We don't need foreign opinion on how WE run things here! Stop talking about the Games! They didn't happen!"

5 ( +5 / -0 )

The Japanese Government and the IOC do not care about anyone in Japan otherwise they would have already cancelled the Olympic Games 2021.

To them the Games are the top priority and when the COVID pandemic takes off more strongly they will just ignore the responsibilities that should have taken.

I appreciate that the athletes hav trained for this event and has already be cancelled last year, but this is above the needs of the athletes for it is about the population of Japan and the populations of the countries that the athletes will be returning to.

So the Games should have alredy been cancelled, but it is not too late, so for all concerned please cancel these Olympics and the Para-Olympics immediately.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

The pols seem determined to turn the Tokyo Olympics into a horror show featuring the "Godzilla" variant.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I fully support the Olympics! Having the Olympics will be joy to those who have been affected by COVID19.

What ?

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Profits over people.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Derek GrebeToday  05:00 pm JST

Yours was the BEST comment ever.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

This is the same Ueyama who has repeatedly called for shutdowns and was then caught attending a party with over 100 people.

The same Ueyama who told people to not eat out yet was photographed at drinking at a sushi restaurant this week with a women who isn't his wife.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Ladies & Gentleman, the I O C have made it very clear, they will not be accountable for the Deaths & Misery

the games will cause.

Infections, Deaths & Trama are the responsibility of The Host Nation.

Cash and only the Cash is the I O C's interest.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Suga, and the IOC still need more pressure. This will add to the pressure, but it will still not quite be enough. More need to join the pressure party.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Oh really. Now an Olympic virus. Let's be sure that this will also require a vaccination on your vaccine passport. Want to attend? Want to travel? Want to eat here? Show us your vaccine passport. Wow, the pharma companies are gonna cash in.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Doctor warns holding Games could lead to 'Olympic virus' strain

Well of course if the Olympics pushes thru then it would be called Olympics strain.

If the Olympics didn't push thru then it would be called something else.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Here is another excellent and well written article in the Washington Post. This article was prepared by Mr. Jules Boykoff. He will also be on the show Democracy now at 8am Eastern Time in the US (about 15 minutes from now)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/05/27/tokyo-olympics-pandemic-crisis/

He makes very good points and I believe even people believing the Olympics must be held would probably have to agree with at least some of what Mr. Boykoff has written.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

These games will be marked in history, one way or the other, looks like for all the wrong reasons so far though.

Suga and the others must be so proud

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@therougou

I do not have a membership and could read the article. He is a former U.S. Olympic soccer player and his point is the issues he has spoken out against in the past are drivers as to why the IOC refuses to budge and he articulates this in the article.

He is aligned with 80% of the Japanese public, two major Japanese corporations who are actualy Olympic sponsors as well as most foreign residents such as myself.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

There will definitely be a mutation from this huge influx of foreigners.

Where I also live in Montana the influx of tourists has pushed infections to close to 15,000 in a county with a population of 50,000!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Naoto Ueyama, postulated 2 things:

"All of the different mutant strains of the virus which exist in different places will be concentrated and gathering here in Tokyo"; and

"We cannot deny the possibility of even a new strain of the virus potentially emerging"

Kenji Shibuya, only refuted the second with "Mutation takes place when virus stays in immunocompromised partially immunized people for a long period of time".

It is undeniable that the first postulate is correct. It is ENTIRELY POSSIBLE that an asymptomatic athlete or official from a specific country might transmit the virus to athletes or official from other countries.

It is undeniable that a gathering of all countries carries a greater risk of spreading a particular EXISTING than not gathering.

Logic.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@藤原

菅IOCオリンピック変異ウイルス(Suga IOC olympic strain)Would be a nice name.

Unfair for the other involved : Abe, Koike, ... Should go for the IOConalist strain. Most people from Tokyo & Japan are against this farcical event, so should be left out and olympic out of the IOC are not so bad.

Thus the name should target the one making it possible : IOC and nationalist like LDP and whatever party Koike will create when need be.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I wonder if athletes and staff/coaches will be made to hotel quarantine as I’m sure every athlete and staff member won’t have been vaccinated.

My problem is the urge to self quarantine and not forced quarantine or urge to whatever, as I have heard thousands broke that urge to self quarantine in Japan as it was a loose ask.

It should have been mandatory hotel quarantine as soon as anyone lands in the country, like Auz did.

The system could backfire big time for the Olympics. Even more than what it has.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Elvis is hereToday  04:12 pm JST

The Olympics strain! Up to now I don't think the powers to be care.

Don't we just know it. I'm just glad that America doesn't have that lippy sassybrat tweeting stupid jokes about this. But look at Chiba Prefecture, listen to what the doctors and general public in Japan are saying.

PM Suga, be a man and get off your duff and use your head for something more that a hat post.

Postpone the Games until 2022!!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Bob

Doctor, in the singular, warns that... LOL

Yes, but he he spouts the approved narrative, so we must read it. Dissidents, meanwhile, get censored und shadowbanned.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

It's all about Money... and simply put, we, do not matter in the eyes of those who feel they will loose out.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The IOC and Japan, also shield themselves from repercussions by forcing attendees to sign a waiver of liability.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Foreigners can't vote in Japan.... so we can't do anything about the Government here.

Though, if you are Japanese, and really care about your fellow Country Persons, and you can read English, and the material referenced from the IOC, then please, make up your own mind and vote with your Conscience.

Hopefully, to oust these imbeciles who purport to run the Country and represent the voice of the People... since the statistics seem to oppose that view. Though, as a lowly Gaijin undercast, who am I to suggest to you , what to do ...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If Japanese healthcare professionals want to complain, maybe they could point the finger at Japanese pharmaceutical companies for the apparent LACK of ANY Japanese vaccine. Even Cuba has developed its own domestic vaccine and Japan, so rightly proud of its many Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, Biology, Medicine, but its Corporate side cannot be bothered to develop, or even try to develop, an effective vaccine rather than leave the Japanese People to have to beg, borrow, or steal vaccines from elsewhere. In fact, this is a FAILURE of the entire Japanese Medical Establishment and damages their credibility for any assertion they may make. They FAILED and now splash noise around to hide that sad fact. And the JGov? Even tr*mp might have done a better job than we are seeing here...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

No one has developed a true vaccine yet. The mRNA treatment labelled as vaccines are experimental and not FDA approved yet. 

I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but just in case yfi, the FDA is not a global organization.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This article very well outlines the insanity of holding the Olympics now.

The following is from today's Mainichi Shimbun:

GENEVA (Kyodo) -- The organizers of this summer's Tokyo Olympics plan to require athletes to acknowledge that they may face health risks or death caused by coronavirus infections and Japan's heat if they compete in the games, a document detailing conditions for participation showed Friday.

The International Olympic Committee has included such risks in a waiver that must be signed by athletes, stipulating that they take part in the games at their "own responsibility," according to a copy seen by Kyodo News.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The headline of today's Mainichi is "Tokyo Olympic athletes required to recognize fatal risks amid COVID."

Can you imagine the terrors those young olympians are going through. This is the first instance that I know of where an Olympic was held in the middle of a pandemic.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Perfectly accurate.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Some national teams may decline to compete and the Games would be a bit lop-sided at best. We ain't done with CoVid-19 yet, we have 8 billion people to imunize.

Delay the Olympics until 2022!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If the Olympics didn't push thru then it would be called something else.

Indeed, calling the mutation Olympic wouldn't be fair to the rest of the covid19 nonsense in Japan.

We need something Japanese like Godzila or Koopa Troopa

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is undeniable that a gathering of all countries carries a greater risk of spreading a particular EXISTING than not gathering.

Logic.

They know that. That is why they are implementing more stringent measures than they do when there would be no gathering.

The measures they are taking together with vaccinations, aren't they enough?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I wonder how much Yakuza activity spawns up around these events. I know that when you go to the local town festival, the Yakuza are said to control all the carnie tents with the yaki soba and trinkets for the kids and whatnot. Seems like an International sporting event would attract that element to a larger scale.

The prime minister must know that given public sentiment, his government won't last until September if he doesn't cancel the Games. Behind the scenes, I wonder if he's perhaps worried about being 'canceled' himself should he shut the Olympics down.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It's ok to not want the Olympics, just say that. No need to make up COVID as the reason.

But people do want the Olympics. Despite the protestations about greed and corruption, they want it.

Otherwise, they will call for cancellation and boycott not just for the coming one but for all the future ones as well.

Cancel the Olympics, not just Tokyo olympics

0 ( +0 / -0 )

These Games MUST BE postponed or cancelled. To achieve that aim, all doctors and nurses should boycott them. Of course, the idiotic government could try to import thousands of doctors and nurses which are needed for these Games, but that would be difficult to achieve at such short notice. I plead to all the unions, doctors and nurses to boycott these Games. DO NOT OFFER YOUR SERVICES. If you stand united with the rest of Japanese society, then they will have to be called off. We have to take the power back from the IOC and this absolutely useless and dangerous government. Your lives matter.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The things they do, even demanding Rikako Ikee drops out, really disgusts me. Won't see any of that on JT, though.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If it happens, let's name it after the IOC.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

roninros

There will definitely be a mutation from this huge influx of foreigners.

What "huge influx"? There will be few visitors, and the anthletes are young and healthy, and the support staff will be thoroughly checked. It is already been decided that this will be a largely virtual event, so nothing like a "huge influx".

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

On balance, it seems to me the Olympic risk is overstated. The bigger problem is lax quarantine standards for the 100K+ returned travelers coming into Japan every month. Quarantining at home is a farce with many reportedly breaking quarantine and spreading the virus. At least athletes and their entourage will be properly quarantined.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

No problem! The latest reports indicate that the current vaccines are effective against newer strains of covid.

Unlike old style flu vaccines made from inactive virus cells , the mRNA vaccines train the body's immune system to attack the spiked covid cells.

Japan can stop worrying and fulfill their promise to host this Olympiad.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

So, if all the athletes and coaches and media and volunteers are fully vaccinated before the early arrivals in Japan, what is the risk?

Especially if they follow the "bubble" protocols that have worked for many other sports world-wide? Test events have been held in Spain, the US, Japan and other places without any COVID spreads.

I'm so confused.

It's ok to not want the Olympics, just say that. No need to make up COVID as the reason.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Yes, but he he spouts the approved narrative, so we must read it. Dissidents, meanwhile, get censored und shadowbanned.

That is the way the brainwashing media works. It really disgusts me. We still haven't seen the opinion of any real Olympic athlete, only some spoiled tennis players that make their living year-round. Of course, the opinions have been out there on twitter, etc, but the one-sided media covers them up.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Kenji Shibuya, is neither a virologist, immunologist or in any branch of medicine or science that studies & researches viruses. He is an administrator. Whatever his expertise in management of public health, as an advisor to the Japanese government, not much to show for his involvement. Playing down the dangers indicates some manner of PR Spin or media management to create a false narrative. After all, he's on the team that is intent on holding the games, no matter the cost.

Quite convenient for you say it is some kind of PR spin now. I'm pretty sure I've read about this guy criticizing Japan's covid response time and time again. And at least he gave a reason behind his opinion. This Ueyama guy seems to be taking a wild guess and is only concerned about Japan saving face.

"If such a situation were to arise, it could even mean a Tokyo Olympic strain of the virus being named in this way, which would be a huge tragedy and something which would be the target of criticism, even for 100 years."

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Here is another excellent and well written article in the Washington Post. This article was prepared by Mr. Jules Boykoff. He will also be on the show Democracy now at 8am Eastern Time in the US (about 15 minutes from now)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/05/27/tokyo-olympics-pandemic-crisis/

He makes very good points and I believe even people believing the Olympics must be held would probably have to agree with at least some of what Mr. Boykoff has written.

I can't read that without a membership, but a google search shows me Mr. Boykoff has a history of criticizing the Olympics, even before covid came around. I'd prefer to read an article from someone that didn't have their mind made up already.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

More "doublethink" and "Newspeak"....leading to more "doublespeak"...!!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I do not have a membership and could read the article. He is a former U.S. Olympic soccer player and his point is the issues he has spoken out against in the past are drivers as to why the IOC refuses to budge and he articulates this in the article.

Worked in a secret window. Mostly what he wrote is on JT. His claim that infections are "surging" in Tokyo is pretty laughable.

He is aligned with 80% of the Japanese public, two major Japanese corporations who are actualy Olympic sponsors as well as most foreign residents such as myself.

I believe it was only 59% until they manipulated the questions. Haven't seen any info on the age groups in this poll, either. Did those sponsors pull out or is it just talk? As for foreign residents, sorry but most foreign residents on here have been claiming doomsday conspiracies for over a year, and seem to live in a bubble.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

We already have an idea of the number of people who actually want the Olympics cancelled, they signed for the petition for the cancellation.

Even here where the call for cancellation seems loud, only a few said they signed.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Ashley Shiba

I pulled my 11 year old son out of this country last month and took him to Guam he is now staying with friends, and going to a small private school and once a week to a Japanese school. Anyone else who have children and who can afford it get your children out of here if you have any avenues open to you.

You do realize that the virus does not affect children, or did you miss that?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Varients are not that big of a deal. The vaccines work against them.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

William Bjornson

No one has developed a true vaccine yet. The mRNA treatment labelled as vaccines are experimental and not FDA approved yet. They are used on an emergency authorization basis. Many expert urge caution about them. If you are unaware of that it is because of selective reporting by the corporate media.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Speculation. Let's have another doctor with an opposing view state what he thinks.

-9 ( +5 / -14 )

…holding Games could lead to 'Olympic virus' strain…

Sorry, I am also strictly against holding the games, but although it ofcourse cannot be excluded, that statement is more kind of a fear mongering and very speculative pseudo argumentation. So to say, the opposite of daily repeated ‘the games are safe’ etc. phrases by the people advocating the Olympic Games. Better keep to the known facts, daily infection and vaccination numbers and all the really existing circumstances. They alone are more than enough reason to cancel.

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

I fully support the Olympics! Having the Olympics will be joy to those who have been affected by COVID19.

-11 ( +2 / -13 )

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