tokyo 2020 olympics

Bach says anti-virus rules working ahead of Tokyo Olympics

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By Hiroshi HIYAMA and Andrew McKIRDY

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Sure. Sure, Anything You say, Mr. Bach. . . .

Tokyo reports 1,308 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 3,418” - Jul 15, 2021

“Tokyo reports 1,149 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 3,194” - Jul 14, 2021

Tokyo reports 830 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 2,386” - Jul 13, 2021

. . . “Bach says anti-virus rules working ahead of Tokyo Olympics” - Jul 16, 2021

37 ( +43 / -6 )

says anti-virus rules working ahead of Tokyo Olympics

Virus will not care about those rules.

25 ( +31 / -6 )

I don’t know why the media reports the daily infected numbers as if they are an indication of whats going on.

Japan has never had any widespread testing. There is actually ZERO idea how many people have the virus.

If they find 1000 people out of 3000 tests done in Tokyo…wouldn’t a mathematician assume that their would be perhaps….50,000 new cases?

41 ( +47 / -6 )

Says doctor Bach, the virus expert.

28 ( +32 / -4 )

Bach was shorter than I imagined.

16 ( +20 / -4 )

tone deaf Bach doesn't seem to realze he's landed into a covid hotzone and his comments only server to undermine

26 ( +29 / -3 )

Koike said

"It's in their interest and in solidarity with the people of Tokyo

seriously? Being in solidarity withe the people of Tokyo would be canceling or postponing the games.

She cares more about the Olympics and Bach than her constituents (in her mind subjects).

Amazing how easily she is bribed with those flowers. Is something stuffed in the flower vase?

32 ( +35 / -3 )

all the athletes signed the covid waiver, so they cannot sue against his billions. Statements like these are the continuing effort to cast any illness as result of athlete error not criminal negligence

22 ( +25 / -3 )

So why not allow those FULLY VACCINATED the option to attend if they want to go!! Did you see mlb allstar game? Packed like sardines!

-13 ( +5 / -18 )

Bach said measures taken to deal with these positive cases mean "the risk for the other residents of the Olympic Village, and the risk for the Japanese people is zero".

That is a plain lie, which means everything else he says can also be considered the same, the risk is never zero.

How about getting a well recognized expert to say the measures are adequate? Bach has no authority on the topic and an obvious conflict of interest so his judgements are irrelevant.

23 ( +25 / -2 )

If this was a meme, it would be the one where the dog is sitting inside a burning house and says "This is fine".

Basically it doesn't matter to this man if the whole country burns as long as he lines his pockets.

19 ( +21 / -2 )

Not necessarily ‘a nice card with her flowers’, but *perhaps … *@Tokyo-Engrm 7:03am:

*- “She cares more about the Olympics & Bach than her constituents. Amazing how easily she is bribed with those flowers. Is something stuffed in the flowers?” - *

… it’s just some ‘*advice**’ *for her future, national political aspirations?

0 ( +4 / -4 )

I'm also glad the 3-day quarantine rule for all travelers into Japan is now being enforced. It's so nice they changed it for all visitors. Especially returning citizens and residents.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Bach is making a fool of the Japanese people around him and they are letting him do so!

14 ( +16 / -2 )

Mind you, NOT the late-night kombini or “airport” flowers you grab for your hostess or mama-san. Perhaps Bach took some time picked these up at the vending machine? :

“Pick a beautiful blossom from Shinjuku Station’s flower vending machine” -

https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/pick-a-beautiful-blossom-from-shinjuku-station’s-flower-vending-machine#comment-2531666

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Is it me or is Koike standing strangely in that photo?

10 ( +11 / -1 )

“Bach says…”

stops reading

14 ( +15 / -1 )

Nice pic...

What are those flowers made of? Iron?

She's holding them like they weigh 20kg...

S

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Wow I missed this gem

Bach said measures taken to deal with these positive cases mean "the risk for the other residents of the Olympic Village, and the risk for the Japanese people is zero".

As a scientist and engineer I would very much like to see Bach back up this statement with a quantitative risk assessment or other evidence.

So now Bach is claiming that he is not only the Prime Minister of Japan but also a scientist?

I thought the media is trying to stop the publication of disinformation.

Bach is stating the Olympics pose zero risk to the people of Japan or even if he is saying the Olympic village poses "zero risk" then this is total insanity. This is absolute insanity!!! Anyone who believes him please provide a rebuttal to my post.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

Their anti-virus rules only exist, doesn't work.

Even separation between Olympics-related people and general citizen is already loose.

Plural Olympics-related people already ignore rules, and started sightseeing at less than 3 days from came into Japan.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

I swear...

Its almost as if he's flaunting his unpopularity

6 ( +9 / -3 )

This guy is delusional

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Bach's comments at the press conference are underreported in this article. According to Reuters he also said:

TOKYO, July 15 (Reuters) - International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Thursday there was "zero" risk of Games participants infecting Japanese residents with COVID-19, as cases hit a six-month high in the host city.

Bach said Olympics athletes and delegations had undergone more than 8,000 coronavirus tests, resulting in three positive results. "Risk for the other residents of Olympic village and risk for the Japanese people is zero," he added."

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/olympics-ioc-chief-tokyo-governor-meet-covid-cases-rise-2021-07-15/

Bold claims there, Mr. Bach. Easy to make when you're not responsible for anything, eh.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

How is Bach allowed out? I thought everyone coming to Japan has a mandatory 14-day quarantine

14 ( +16 / -2 )

so from now on, every new case of Covid-19 will be blamed on the Olympics ?

Very naive thinking, but as long as it justifies your anti-Olympics stance right

-9 ( +4 / -13 )

So why not allow those FULLY VACCINATED the option to attend if they want to go!?

i was thinking the same thing.

Have them show their vaccination papers & ID, & have them wear masks

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

@toohey

No every case will not be blamed on the Olympics

Bach made a the asinine statement there is “zero risk”

Do you agree with Bach?

Also do you think the wishes of Japanese citizens should be ignored?

10 ( +13 / -3 )

Bach said measures taken to deal with these positive cases mean "the risk for the other residents of the Olympic Village, and the risk for the Japanese people is zero".

I thought we were fact checking fake news and disinformation now ? I have seen this statement in print and media everywhere. I suppose some are more equal than others, like Herr Bach.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Thomas Bach only cares for the money and is a lost cause. Why is he causing all this trouble to Japan? Wow

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Apparently Bach asked Suga to consider allowing spectators at Olympic events if the coronavirus numbers improve. Unreal.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/7ee4aae1bf54221419ff0abd9999c8f8d130766d?tokyo2020

And the bubble has burst. It's official.

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14395747

12 ( +15 / -3 )

Not much to critique here. This Bach buffoon is so good at sounding ridiculous that all he needs to do is keep talking.

And Suga and company can join his ranks by listening attentively.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

Huh

Doesn’t he and his sidekick there read the newspapers about what is really happening on the ground in Tokyo.

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14395747

The antivirus measures are most certainly NOT working and the whole thing is a shambles. Why is this story not the headline new worldwide?

11 ( +13 / -2 )

They keep bleating on about the Olympic Village ‘bubble’, but that’s a load of bull because at the moment teams are scattered all around the country in ‘training camps’.

So by the time they head off to the village, who knows how many will have contracted the virus.

There is no bubble.

14 ( +15 / -1 )

Wasn’t Bach saying to Suga yesterday again he thinks there should be spectators?

8 ( +10 / -2 )

@Alfie

Thanks for your article in the Asahi. I think the absolute lies that Bach are telling are unravelling as fast as the lies come out of his mouth.

The only thing we can do is vent here and hope the outside world reads the comments.

Other than that the games are going to go on due to the fact that the Government of Japan and the IOC considers Japanese citizens and residents their subjects who must bow down to their every demand.

Those who call us all "Olympic haters" or the equivalent fail to realize that many of use would prefer a delay until the vaccination rate here is sufficient to reduce risk (which never equals zero in this scenario). Anyway you have your games so lets hope it does not turn bad.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

Well, he would say that, wouldn't he? Just the opening sentence of this article shows that he doesn't care too much about reality.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Disgusting lies.

Bach, Coe, Coates and all the IOC cronies do NOT care one bit about the virus. They have stated that this rubbish event will go on regardless. Virus cases are already popping up in the so called village. There would be many, many more - but it is now illegal for the press to report on, as others have stated.

This is a trainwreck we are watching unfold before our eyes.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

I was at work when his comment about "zero risk to the Japanese people" played on TV. Every Japanese person in the room broke into laughter. No one believes this man.

18 ( +19 / -1 )

I am already entertained by his games. No need to watch the real ones.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

With just over a week until Tokyo 2020 opens for events mostly behind closed doors, organizers insist they can be held safely as long as athletes, officials and journalists adhere to strict anti-virus regulations

It is an equation and it is easy to see that it is not going to lead to the right (intended) result because the equation is missing an important variable, the local population. The playbook itself is flawed from the onset because it was created with the assumption that it is the mostly unvaccinated local population that is at risk of being infected by the mostly vaxxed incoming olympic contingent . The olympics has not yet started and the flaw is so obvious, as of yesterday the score is 4 foreign athletes and officials against 22 locals associated with the olympics being found positive and those 22 locals were accidentally found because they were tested because they happen to associate with the foreign contingent and under normal circumstances as it has been the case throughout this pandemic they would have gone unnoticed and spreading the virus due to difficulties getting a free PCR test. Despite it being obvious that it is the athletes that risked being infected, the local media is in overdrive with questions of whether the playbook will be adhered to by the foreign olympic visitors while we the locals go about our business without any restrictions. Any rules or regulations made based on xenophobia is bound to fail as the pesky virus doesn't infect based on nationality, economic or social status.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Their only consistency in the last months is the absolute contradiction between their declarations and the reality of things. They live in a parallel world.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

"thepersoniamnowToday  06:51 am JST

I don’t know why the media reports the daily infected numbers as if they are an indication of whats going on.

Japan has never had any widespread testing. There is actually ZERO idea how many people have the virus.

If they find 1000 people out of 3000 tests done in Tokyo…wouldn’t a mathematician assume that their would be perhaps….50,000 new cases?"

Which basically says that Covid is like the flu because if there are 50000 actual cases in Tokyo with only 50 people seriously ill in hospital....

Vaccinate the old and seriously ill and move on! Enough with the sky is falling Hysteria!

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

What gave him that idea? When you have international news staff wondering around Tokyo, outside the BUBBLE!

5 ( +8 / -3 )

It's almost like they WANT this problem to get worse. What could the motivation possibly be?

6 ( +9 / -3 )

No other country with thousands of infections daily would have held the Olympics for the safety of its citizens! This itself shows how the IOC think about safety of people and their opinion of the Japanese!

5 ( +9 / -4 )

What's the point in getting vaccinated if you can't even go to the games??

Would have been a great incentive for people to get vaccinated if they allowed only vaccinated people to attend!

Oh wait that's right the vaccinations don't even work! Maybe they should change the name from vaccination to symptom lessener... :D

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

Blatant callousness and corruption

2 ( +6 / -4 )

I think we are beating the wrong horse Bach, Suga and Koike, Suga especially are the horses than need

beating because no matter the penalties that Japan had to pay to the IOC for taking the unilateral decision of cancelling the olympics the cost would pale compared to what it is spending now to host this Olympic in the midst of the pandemic. Suga would have been within his right has leader of the country to serve the interest of the country. I am sure if the following Jacinda Ardern, Angela Merkel or even Biden were in Suga's position with calls from the public to cancel, they would have cancelled without thinking twice. Expecting Bach to care for the Japanese public and not Suga and putting the blame on him when he is serving his interest and the Organisation he is serving is clearly beating the wrong horse. The Japanese people though indirectly elected Suga not Bach to serve them and their interest, the buck stops with Suga. Well I see a silver lining from hosting the olympics, without the Olympics the vaccination rate won't have ever taken pace and the we would have been in a far dire situation as regards serious cases and deaths from the delta variant considering the lack of proper mitigation measures.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Japan ranks first in public debt worldwide and this is just another thorn to the stem of monetary idiocy.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

There are too many articles on this site referencing the non-sense that these politicians say. New day, same nonsense.

How about some reports from the field now that delegations are arriving?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

On the one hand, I feel sorry for the all the people in Japan who have to put up with a higher risk and less resources because of this mega game show. On the other hand I can't stop feeling that in part the Japanese got what they deserved by not protesting, as in taking to the streets, shut down the government offices...they are just too lame, put on their "sho ga nai, sho ga nai" face and go about their stuff. You got such a huge accumulation of people in the wider area of Tokyo, how was it not possible to stop this madness? The government will just get more lazy and brazen in their ways, because the opposition parties are of the same kind anyway, and critical media reporting is too few!

8 ( +9 / -1 )

So why not allow those FULLY VACCINATED the option to attend if they want to go!?

At this point, I feel the same way. Let the fully and even partially vaccinated attend the games if they follow the proper precautions.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

Sports fans in Japan are going to regret missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch an olympic event up close and personal. That regret is going to eat at their souls.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

@knights

I am a sports fan and I live in Japan.

This year I can care less.

How about postponing the games so more can watch? This is solely the decision of the IOC. They have the power to postpone and allow more to watch but they refuse to do so.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Agreed .. i thought the point of BEING vaccinated was so that you could go and watch the Olympics .. now im just confused lol ..

1 ( +2 / -1 )

17 peeps against fully vaccinated Olympics attendance. Stay in your mole hole don’t come out. Lol

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@Chili - some people may be concerned about the fully vaccinated people coming into contact with those who are unvaccinated and the unvaccinated getting ill. The majority of Tokyo citizens and residents are not vaccinated.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

And @thepersoniamnow 6:51am, WE don’t know why the media seeks to report these words of Mr. Bach when HE has NO real indication of whats really going on.

- @6:51am: “I don’t know why the media reports the daily infected numbers as if they are an indication of whats going on. Japan has never had any widespread testing…actually ZERO idea how many people have the virus.” -

Relax. Those daily numbers, being the real ‘truth’, or not, are just a benchmark used here to show Bach’s statements are out of touch with what people here see everyday.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The new Olympic mantra:

Higher, Faster, Stronger, More Infectious

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Another example, we all can assume those flowers he gave Koike are not-at-all worth $15 billion. Bach is just really out of touch with Japan’s people and the long-term costs on their lives.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

If your going to include these Bach says, Suga says, Koike says articles please state paid advertisement at the top.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

So he's also a member of the WHO now?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

A tour of the Olympic Village by Bach, reveals all is well. Which is peculiar. The Australian Women's National Soccer Team is in Nara. Not the Olympic Village. The USA Women's Soccer Team is in Shikoku. There is a foreign rugby team in Kyushu.

The fact Bach spins out nonsense without impunity mimics other stratums of the elite in business and politics. Honesty and hewing to fact is ignored for an agenda that is wedded only to short-sighted concerns, this instance, a profitable Olympics that will be a mediated spectacle. With canned crowd sounds, similar to a laugh track. Emotive moments, dramatically represented to create some manner of bonding with the viewers. All amidst empty stadiums Which all in all redefines the term: crowd-pleaser on many different levels.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

@Bradley

It's certainly reassuring to read that all measures are being taken to protect the athletes etc. It certainly looks as though these will quite possibly be the safest Olympic games any athlete ever attended.

Are you an athlete or do you work for the IOC?

It appears your only concern is for the athletes, which is nice. However what about the citizens and residents of Japan - 80% of whom do not want the games to occur right now. Do you have any concern for them?

I certainly hope the games are safe and there are no issues. However Bach is saying there is "zero risk" with nothing to back up his statement. Can you back up his statement of "zero risk" to the Japanese public?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

some people may be concerned about the fully vaccinated people coming into contact with those who are unvaccinated and the unvaccinated getting ill.

You are more likely to catch covid getting on a crowded train on your daily commute to work than as a vaccinated spectator wearing a mask watching golf on a golf course or surfing at a beach or at a marathon.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

They hope that if they same the same thing enough times then people will believe the lie.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

@knightsofraiden

some people may be concerned about the fully vaccinated people coming into contact with those who are unvaccinated and the unvaccinated getting ill.

You are more likely to catch covid getting on a crowded train on your daily commute to work than as a vaccinated spectator wearing a mask watching golf on a golf course or surfing at a beach or at a marathon.

Yes you are correct. So why not postpone the Olympics until most people are vaccinated? It seems selfish of the IOC to demand holding them now when the risk is lower and Tokyo is not under a State of Emergency?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

He is saying that the Olympics rules work, not that the Japanese rules in the rest of the country work.

With a dozen of Olympics/incoming foreigners-related cases since July 1st, despite a 100% testing, and over 30,000 cases in the country in the meantime out of very, very few tests administered per day, it’s just plain bad faith to insist on the Olympics being the problem.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

He will say anything to keep the funds flowing, and that's all this whole spectacle is all about, you, my friend are delusional if you think it's about anything else

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What rules are working? Is it the rules from Gremlins? Don't expose them to sunlight, don't let them get wet and never ever feed them after midnight. Covid-19 doesn't seem to really care too much about rules Mr. Bach. I'm sure we'll just have an Olympics that will be remembered as the Covid-19 Olympics, Japan and the I.O.C's reputation will be tainted in the short term. There will be a lot of words spoken, but everyone is too busy talking and nobody seems to be listening.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

one up on this story.. He now is asking for spectators to be allowed in

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14396489

And the PM could not even give a definitive NO.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

He now is asking for spectators to be allowed in

if you’ve been fully vaccinated & will wear a mask, I see no problem

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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