Tokyo 2020 continues with the challenge of celebrating the Olympic Games next July despite the current situation of the pandemic in the world.

In statements made this Tuesday, Yoshiro Mori, president of the organizing committee of the Games, was resounding and wanted to dispel rumors of a possible cancellation. “The Games will be held regardless of how the situation of the coronavirus pandemic evolves.”

For Mori the discussion is in other aspects and points to a new type of Olympic Games. “We must go beyond discussing whether there are going to be Games or not. Let’s talk about how they are going to be held. Let’s think about a new type of Olympic Games,” he said.

Japan extends state of emergency until March 7

The Japanese government announced this Tuesday that it will extend the current state of emergency due to covid that affects Tokyo until March 7 and others in the most populated regions of the country, due to pressure on the health system despite the reduction in cases.

Tokyo is the site of the next Olympic Games, which were delayed from 2020 to 2021 by the pandemic and which is scheduled to open on July 23, with the Paralympics from August 24.

The extension of the health alert, in force since the beginning of January, to It will affect ten of the 47 prefectures of the country: Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, Aichi, Gifu, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka explained the Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, in the national Parliament.

“I want to do everything possible to put an end to the expansion of the coronavirus,” said Suga during his speech, which took place after meeting with the group of experts that advises the Government on the pandemic.

The decision to extend the emergency will be formally made this Tuesday at a meeting of the Executive’s working group on the pandemic, after which Suga will appear before the media.

In Tochigi, where the alert was also in effect since the beginning of January, this exceptional measure will be lifted as planned on February 7 after registering a significant improvement in infections.

The state of emergency in Japan does not include confinement, although the population has been urged to avoid unnecessary exits, Bars and restaurants have been asked to advance their business closing time to 20:00 and companies have been recommended to encourage teleworking.

Despite the fact that the archipelago has experienced a decrease in new covid infections in the last week, the number of patients in serious condition (those who need some form of respiratory assistance) remains high and deaths attributed to the disease are at peak levels.

Japan has so far accounted for more than 392,000 cases of covid and 5,807 deaths.

January has been the deadliest month of the pandemic in the country: 2,240 people died, about 40% of the total, and as of this Sunday 975 people were in serious condition, according to the latest data available from the Ministry of Health.

In Japan the number of beds and specialists to treat patients in intensive care is very limited and currently suffers from a shortage of nursing staff, which poses difficulties in securing places for coronavirus patients, who often need more care and whose condition can suddenly worsen.

Japan has about two thousand intensive care specialists, with a population of 126 million people, according to data from the Japanese Society of Intensive Medicine. Germany, with a population of about 80 million, has about eight thousand.

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