As COVID Surges in Japan, Some See Indirect Olympics Link
Voice of America
Just days after the Tokyo Olympics began, Japan started to see a sharp increase in coronavirus cases. On Thursday, the country topped 15,000 confirmed daily infections for the first time. Medical experts are now debating whether and to what extent the Games are to blame for the outbreak, which officials warn is “extremely severe.” #BREAKING : Japan's daily total of COVID-19 cases tops 15,000 for 1st timehttps://t.co/kc5GcDjvax#COVID19 #CoronavirusUpdates #StateofEmergency pic.twitter.com/JYVNR7i2tX Journos with European media who are visiting Tokyo for #Olympics coverage were seen carousing on outside stairs of a hotel where they were staying, in a possible violation of media protocols https://t.co/dQlMkFZesa That, plus local reporters are working alongside journos who just flew in yesterday. Plexiglass doesn’t stop covid from infecting the guy sitting right next to you if you’re together for 8 hours a day.
Japan has set daily record high infections at least seven times since the Games began. Most of the infections have been in and around Tokyo, host to tens of thousands of Olympic athletes, officials, and other guests. It is more than just a Tokyo problem at this point, however, officials warn.A person votes at a polling station during a special voting day, ahead of South Africa's general elections to elect a new National Assembly, in Cape Town, South Africa, May 27, 2024. Elderly special voter Thelma Thembeka Dingaan, 65, checks her ballot papers at her home in the Yeoville neighborhood of Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 27, 2024.
This undated handout photo taken by the UN Development Programme and released on May 28, 2024 shows locals digging at the site of a landslide at Mulitaka village in the region of Maip Mulitaka, in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province. This photo released by UNDP Papua New Guinea, shows a landslide in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, May 27, 2024. Authorities fear a second landslide and a disease outbreak are looming at the scene of Papua New Guinea's recent mass-casualty disaster.
Ali Larijani, left, and Saeed Jalili, right, are seen in this 2008 photo by Iranian state-approved news site Asr Iran in 2008. (Asr Iran) Iran's interim president Mohammad Mokhber speaks during the opening ceremony of Iran's 12th parliament in Tehran, Iran, May 27, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS FILE - Presidential candidate Saeed Jalili attends an election debate at a television studio, in Tehran, Iran June 8, 2021. Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/YJC/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS FILE - Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani attends a news conference at the Iranian embassy in Beirut's southern suburbs, as a picture of late Iran's Quds Force top commander Qassem Soleimani is seen in the background, Lebanon February 17, 2020. FILE - Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and the Russian Ministry of Transport Vitaly Savelyev during a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2023. Iran's Presidency /WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS Parviz Fattah, head of Iranian state-owned enterprise Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), is seen in this photo posted on the EIKO website on May 14, 2024. (EIKO)
A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.