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Koike says Japan can host Olympics despite virus spike

54 Comments
By MARI YAMAGUCHI

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Koike says Japan can host Olympics despite virus spike

Wouldn't expect her to say anything else.

32 ( +33 / -1 )

Who gives a rat’s about a sports event?

22 ( +29 / -7 )

I believe Koike would sell her own family to ensure the Olympics are hosted.

It is one thing to say we are doing our best to ensure the event is held but what she is doing is completely different than that.

21 ( +25 / -4 )

Does anyone believe anything that comes out of this woman’s mouth?

19 ( +24 / -5 )

Here we go again! I wonder how many people, wait I know, damn near everyone, remembers the line of BS that Koike and Abe were spewing about the Olympics back in May, telling the world "everything is ok here in Japan" and then NOT!

Are we going to have to listen to this brainwashing for the next 7 months!

(Face palm)

19 ( +24 / -5 )

Koike said widespread use of masks among the Japanese is one of most effective safety measures that have spared Japan from the high rate of infections that have taken place in the United States and Europe.

Many Japanese used them as “moral duty” in trying to cooperate in disease prevention efforts, she said.

I wish the leaders of Japan would exercise their “moral duty” to ensure the welfare of all their people.

18 ( +22 / -4 )

Nothing surprises me anymore about this ultra conservative revisionist cold blooded politician,she’s just doing the will of the corporations and the major business lobbies without little care for the population.

17 ( +19 / -2 )

Koike says Japan can host Olympics despite virus spike

Stupid is as stupid does.

16 ( +20 / -4 )

This is a decision that has to be made based on objective information, not on what a politician wants to do.

Bring first a well performed and detailed risk analysis open for anybody to review and criticize, after it is found to be adequate then it can be said if an international event is or not able to be held safely.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

I sometimes wonder if the political vanity of Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike will sooner or later insist on a press conference every time Yuriko Koike opens an envelope.

It is far too premature to make statements insisting, “As the host city, I'm determined to achieve the Games whatever it takes," Koike told a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday. 

12 ( +13 / -1 )

“As the host city, I'm determined to achieve the Games whatever it takes," Koike told a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday."

Wai - Koike is the host city? L'etat, c'est moi?

I think we all know what it will take - a whole lot of denials, deaths and debt.

Just scrap this white elephant.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

they have never backed down. The Athletes said no to Bach as well. Can't have a games if nobody goes. It's not worth your life

9 ( +11 / -2 )

So what happens if they do hold it, and no athletes from overseas show up (other than Japan winning all the medals)?

I can assure you a bunch of small 3rd world countries would be paid by Japan and all the tabs plus omiyage take care by Japan just to legitimatize the olympics.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

With all the Olympic spectators allowed to bypass Japan's quarantine this will be a total disaster.

You think Go To is bad.

The world won't be vaccinated in time.

Tokyo Olympics may allow foreign fans; there will be rules

Good luck with rules.

https://apnews.com/article/tokyo-health-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-tokyo-olympics-japan-40849ef4da79eeaea17b2f20fd8f6bd8

9 ( +10 / -1 )

She’s driven by money and fame...at the expense of the health and safety of Japanese citizens!

8 ( +8 / -0 )

... the virus will just magically disappear come April...

wow... the pigs are flying backwards

7 ( +8 / -1 )

How's that 50,000 tests a day coming along? One cannot be relevant if afraid of the truth

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Looks like all those vaccines have gone to her head.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

At the end of March, when asked by a journalist during a press conference if the increase in reported cases after the announcement of the Olympics postponement was related to this announcement, she did not even try to give an appropriate answer and just rejected the question.

Like most of politicians, she has an agenda.....

6 ( +6 / -0 )

So what happens if they do hold it, and no athletes from overseas show up (other than Japan winning all the medals)?

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Denial is a wonderful thing, isn't? Koike gets up in the morning and either looks in the mirror and says to herself "one day I will no one have to keep up this charade" or she says "nothing wrong in Japan and the Olympics will be fine". Of course when she is reminded of the playbook, denial mode is re-engaged if it somehow switched off over night.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Looking forward to further testing suppression and restricting access to treatment and care so Japan can look good.

Olympics and Dentsu profits are the only thing matters to the JP government anyways.

I think Dentsu should start reporting the Japanese government as a business division starting next fiscal year, because pretty much the government's sole purpose is to more efficiently funnel more taxpayer money to Dentsu et al.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

But the coroner usually does and the coroner has been very busy in the west has he not?

In Japan one wonders if the job of coroner even exists or not!!!

There is very little data being given on things like hospitalization or the number of deaths per month(& if spiking I expect the govt to FUDGE this data!) & related past data, Japan is just doing its best to HIDE as much as possible that much is obvious, but the locals are so used to just blindly following their govt & the usual shoganai that many just wait for "news" to consume, although more & more Japanese are genuinely getting ticked off over time its a slow process & they NEVER make the LDP or politicians pay for the abuse they wreck on the country & its people

5 ( +6 / -1 )

they can host of course. Even in the middle of the pandemic. I just hope that my country people will use brain and stay where they are. Home.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

“As the host city, I'm determined to achieve the Games whatever it takes," Koike told a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday."

Wai - Koike is the host city? L'etat, c'est moi?

Never a good idea to take a translation at face value. What she said was ホストシティとしてコロナ対策はしっかりとっていきたい - as is often the case in Japanese, there is no grammatical subject expressed. The easy (lazy) way to translate it is of course to add a first person singular subject, but that does create the problem you point out.

Logically the as the host city bit tells us that the subject of the sentence is Tokyo/the Tokyo administration - of which of course Koike is the head, but she is not here doing a Louis XIV, simply stating the policy of the Tokyo administration.

I'm not defending Koike in any way, just being a language nerd.

Carry on.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Jeff

Japan's virus spike, if accurate, is nothing. There are counties and cities in the US and UK with more new daily cases that the whole of Japan.

If Japan were grossly under reporting cases, you still wouldn't be able to hide the increase in hospitalization.

Has anybody said Japan is hiding numbers of hospitalization?

You give the impression that you think every positive test mild, asympthomatic are hospitalized.

Nope, no country on this planet does that.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Ok Koike, calm down..

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Of course, she would say that. She has been missing for weeks.

Any chance that she had COVID-19, so she was hiding until she recovered?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I am a little bit surprised...

If I remember well...many here supported Koike a lot during the last election for Tokyo Mayor.

"Yeah she is so good", and "she is brave to stand against Abe"... and whatever kind of supporting posts I read here.

But now, I read completely different!

What happened?

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Yes, I agree, the Olympic facilities, staff, volunteers etc. are perfect for extending missing ICU units, necessary staff for treatment and mass accommodation of infected people. You really should use them at all costs. lol

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Addendum:

With no spectators. No entry into Japan except for athletes, trainers, invited foreign elite, media, and Japanese citizens.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I’ve been hearing for at least four months they will ramp up testing but it never changes.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

It is much better to cancel the Olympics and save humans lives.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Waiting until 2024 when the next Olympics was supposed to happen might be the better solution.

Even if we have 0 cases, infected athletes or tourist could bring it again to Japan.

The world needs to be stabilize, get this virus under control before we play sports and have fun.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Yes, its also interesting that you never compare the ridiculously low testing numbers that Japan does compared to those same countries. Why? Here it takes 6 months to test what others do in 6 days.

" If you dont test you shall not find " - Japan model in a nutshell. Sugooooi.

common sense brother!

0 ( +5 / -5 )

"Bach just reminded me that I am on his payroll so I have to do my due diligence."

Ironically, the sole winner of this Olympics is Russia, which have been banned years prior.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

To quote the great Bob Harris in Lost in Translation “is that all she said?”

surely with a problem this serious she had more to say than that. Or were the reporters just too lazy?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The Olympics. Koike has a mighty investment to protect, along with her outlandish ego. As to the number of covid cases in Japan. The numbers are indeed low. Testing or not. The indicator is the volume of covid patients in the hospitals.

The West, particularly the USA, there is a disdain for protocol and wearing of masks. Hospitals are once again becoming overwhelmed. Add to that a faulty healthcare system. Why would any country allow USA tourists to enter their borders? Same for India and most European countries.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

They should scrap some (aka a great majority of) events and make it better. Extreme sports need to be added or it's just another year of extremely boring run here, run there. Jump this, jump that. Balance on this, balance on that. Where is all the action and threat of injury or death we get in the Winter Games?

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

Lol people are again comparing number of tests but vehemently ignoring number of deaths

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

By next summer we'll be fine...

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

With Japan highly efficient hygience protocols and guidance, it is believed Japan will host the Olympic successfully. Not only that, Japan will be the first country in the world with such ability to hold world-class event during pandemic period. Japan is the best, thank you Japan

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

Japan's virus spike, if accurate, is nothing. There are counties and cities in the US and UK with more new daily cases that the whole of Japan.

If Japan were grossly under reporting cases, you still wouldn't be able to hide the increase in hospitalization.

-10 ( +4 / -14 )

"Lol people are again comparing number of tests but vehemently ignoring number of deaths"

because they don't understand stats. They can't understand the following argument:

If testing is the key, then why is it that the countries that have conducted the most test also have the highest number of deaths? Why is it that Germany, hailed by experts for its covid response, again in lockdown? Is there any direct correlation between the number of deaths and the number of tests?

They mindlessly pound on the keyboard-ignoring all other evidence - Japan is bad.

-10 ( +2 / -12 )

"If you dont test you shall not find "

But the coroner usually does and the coroner has been very busy in the west has he not?

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

Good lady, positive and upbeat, soon the vaccine and then the Olympics, life goes on

-15 ( +3 / -18 )

You what I find interesting? All most all of the this year's major sporting events have gone forward. The masters, the tour de france, etc. Yet, no one has question the wisdom of holding those events. I wonder why?

-16 ( +4 / -20 )

"Koike says Japan can host Olympics despite virus spike".

Who said Japan can't ?

-23 ( +4 / -27 )

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