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Tag: Coronavirus

  • Tokyo Olympics are postponed until 2021 – how did it get to this point?

    Tokyo Olympics are postponed until 2021 – how did it get to this point?

    Photo: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – Flickr

    Having dug his heels in for quite some time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finally conceded as the IOC announced that the 2020 Olympics will be postponed. TheCity’s Japanese expert Ayumi Miyano reports.

    On 24 March, Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and Shinzo Abe, Japan’s Prime Minister, agreed to postpone the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

    According to the joint statement from the IOC, the decision was made at a teleconference held on the same date at 8pm Tokyo time. Their conclusion was to postpone the Olympics until “beyond 2020, but not later than summer 2021”. Both leaders “shared concern” on the global pandemic, which has had a significant impact on athletes’ preparations for the Olympics.

    The controversy about whether to postpone the Olympics was quietly building, especially since last week. On March 17, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe claimed he “gained support” from the G7 leaders to go ahead with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics “perfectly” as “proof that the human race will conquer the Coronavirus” after an emergency teleconference. 

    No spectator games

    It had been said that “no-spectator” games was a possibility. However, Yuriko Koike — governor of Tokyo — stated to NHK that both no-spectator games and the cancellation of the Olympics are “unthinkable”. 

    If we think about the preparation and effort which was undertaken by the Japanese government, the cancellation of the games would have been seen as the worst case scenario. After the International Olympic Committee selected Tokyo as the host of the 2020 Olympic games in September 2013, the Japanese government has been investing in various entities.

    One example is The National Stadium, which was totally rebuilt for the proud occasion. The construction of the stadium was completed on 30 November 2019, costing more than 1.25 billion US dollar which was reported by Japan Sport Council. 

    Photo: Eiichi Kimura — Flickr

    The organising committee recently announced that the total number of applicants for the volunteers was over 200,000 people. The selected 80,000 people will support the Olympic games as volunteers. These numbers alone indicate the huge impact which cancellation would have on Japanese people.

    Japanese citizen Masumi Ito — who applied for the volunteers at the Olympics — has been looking forward to the games. If the cancellation happened, “the preparation will be ruined” he said. As a hairdresser, he would be working as a volunteer for the hair salon at the athlete camp if his application passes. 

    “Many people are involved in the Olympics and worked hard to arrange their schedule for it. There might not be an option for a cancellation,” he said, showing concern for stakeholders. 

    Even though Japan could avoid the worst case scenario, the reschedule of the Olympics might shock the Japanese government and its citizens.

    In the joint statement, “significant improvements” in Japan was acknowledged amid the coronavirus panic. The total number of cases is 1,128 in Japan which is significantly lower than the neighbouring country South Korea’s 9,037.

    Compared to Ireland — which marked 557 in total with 191 new cases as of March 20 — the Japanese numbers per day are even smaller. Considering Japanese population is 120 million people, these low numbers might illustrate the Japanese government’s swift and intrusive approach. But in reality, are they managing the situation? 

    “In Japan, we can’t take a Coronavirus test easily yet, and many people who have no symptoms are walking around. I would imagine that even if people were positive for Covid-19, they would go to their work because they have zero symptoms or little symptoms. I guess there are many people like that. It is impossible to suppress the influence of coronavirus,” Ito said. 

    In Japan, we can’t take a Coronavirus test easily yet, and many people who have no symptoms are walking around.

    The Japanese government announced some large sports and cultural events would be cancelled or postponed “voluntarily by their organisers” on February 26.

    Following this; elementary schools, junior high schools, senior high schools, schools for special needs education and upper secondary specialised training schools were temporarily closed from March 2. However, they have not followed most of Europe in closing restaurants and bars.

    “Our graduation day hasn’t been cancelled yet which I’m surprised to be entirely honest but so far nothing has happened,” Fiachra Jones, an English teacher at a high school in Tokyo commented.

    “Restaurants for the most part are still open. There has been advice given out to avoid places like restaurants but at least are still open,” he added. 

    Children in Japan could “go to a childcare facility at schools because they don’t have anywhere to go. Isn’t it the same as usual? It just seems like their spring holiday simply extended. When I go to a restaurant for lunch, I can see some groups of school kids. I think ‘it doesn’t make sense’,” said Ito. 

    Figure 1: Total confirmed cases of Covid-19 – Our World in Data
    Figure 2: Covid-19 tests performed by country – Our World in Data
    Figure 3: Covid-19 tests performed per million people – Our World in Data

    The statistics from Our World in Data show the total number of confirmed cases, tests performed, and the number of test performed per million people on a country-by-country basis.  

    Figure 1 shows that the smaller number of total cases in Japan in comparison with the neighbouring countries like South Korea, China and some European countries like Italy, France and Spain. The curve of Japanese number is less steep, indicating that the number has risen in a slower manner than their counterparts.

    However, Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the lower numbers of tests taken in Japan in comparison with other countries. As of March 17, Japan has 130.3 people per million (ppm) who took the test which is considerably less than 5,566.5 ppm in South Korea. Japanese number is smaller than Ireland — 365 per million — where the announcement of the first case of coronavirus was relatively late — on 29 February.

    These numbers might inform us that the total number of cases in Japan is not necessarily accurate. Analysis by THE CONVERSATION suggests there is suspicion that “the government had conducted only a small number of tests in Japan to hide the scope and severity of the infection, partly due to the Abe administration’s determination to hold the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo”.

    Meanwhile, Japan’s “strong” support in protecting its people’s health was acknowledged by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). 

    The contribution to WHO was made twice — 10 million US dollar on 6 February and 46 million US dollar on 10 March. In addition, WHO informed that Japan confirmed their additional contribution by the Japanese-written document in which they explained the confirmation of 138 million US dollar contribution — the number exceeds 37 million dollar by the United States.

    Ghebreyesus later praised the Asian nation, saying “Japan is also demonstrating that a whole-of-government approach led by Prime Minister Abe himself — supported by in-depth investigation of clusters — is a critical step in reducing transmission,” at a March 13 press conference.

    By March 23, Japanese Prime Minister Abe was showing signs he might concede to the growing pressure due the coronavirus. The IOC said that it would discuss the issue over the coming weeks to consider alternative scenarios.

    “This decision by IOC is in line with what I have said, about holding the games in their entirety,” he told lawmakers. “In case this becomes difficult, in order to make the athletes our top priority, we may have no choice but to decide to postpone the Games.”

    Then, on March 24, what PM Abe had previously refused to consider was confirmed: the 2020 Olympics would be postponed until the summer of 2021. As the pandemic continues to spread, and containing it proves difficult, Ito’s advice seems very wise.

    “If suppressing Coronavirus is impossible, we have to exist with the disease,” said Ito.

    No one can predict when the coronavirus crisis will end. The “perfect” Olympics on this summer will not carry out but it is also a time for Japan to give its “strong” support to its citizens and prepare for the Olympics which possibly take place — however imperfectly — in the summer of 2021.

  • ‘The stark reality is that Irish Travellers are one of the most vulnerable groups in this crisis’

    ‘The stark reality is that Irish Travellers are one of the most vulnerable groups in this crisis’

    Pavee Point has created an instructional video relating to the pandemic
    Photo: Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre

    Members of the Traveller community are at a disadvantage in terms of health status and access to adequate health facilities. Kate Brayden explores why their organisations are calling for specific instructions for the minority group during the Coronavirus pandemic. 

    Prominent members of the Irish Traveller community have called for answers from the HSE and the Irish Government regarding the issue of self-isolation for the minority group.

    The community has been urged to self-isolate and practice social distancing by the Government – as has the rest of Ireland’s inhabitants – but this is potentially more difficult for Irish Travellers. Many of them live in close proximity to family members and have significantly less access to sanitary facilities. 

    https://twitter.com/SindyLJoyce/status/1238083402466758656

    “We know that the COVID-19 is presenting clear challenges for all communities in Ireland,” Ronnie Fay, Co-Director of Pavee Point Traveller & Roma Centre, commented. 

    “But we know that for Travellers and Roma, the disease is particularly concerning”

    Traveller communities experience overcrowding at seven times the national rate, and many Travellers don’t have access to proper hand hygiene facilities on sites, or running water. Chronic health conditions are also experienced in disproportionate rates by members of this minority.

    “The stark reality is that Travellers are one of the most vulnerable groups in relation to this crisis and yet they will not be able to effectively self-isolate (where advised). We know this is not new and has been an ongoing issue given the persistent failure of Local Authorities to address the ongoing accommodation crisis within the community, despite having the budgets to do so,” Fay added. 

    “Every year substantial parts of Traveller accommodation budgets remain unspent by Local Authorities. For instance, in 2019, according to the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government, only 30% of the Traveller accommodation budget was drawdown by local authorities, with over half (14) of local authorities failing to draw down any of the allocated Traveller accommodation funds.”

    Traveller Health Units and the HSE are working to mitigate the situation as far as possible and their Traveller Primary Health Care Workers are at the forefront of this work ensuring accurate and timely information is made available to their families and wider Traveller community, while at the same time protecting themselves. 

    https://twitter.com/PaveePoint/status/1238755279753355264

    Fay insists that these issues are more complex, than suggested by the HSE and urges councils to take heed of Pavee Point’s stark warnings before a crisis emerges within Traveller communities, who are already being left behind by much of the health services:

    “An interagency approach is required, as is stronger leadership and engagement from local authorities to ensure Travellers are protected. “

    It has been suggested that local councils work to disinfect and sanitise living facilities on lands where members of the Traveller group are currently settled.

    According to the HSE website, the health service is continuing to work closely with the Traveller Health Units and Traveller Representatives in responding to Covid-19.

    The Irish Traveller Movement put out a statement on the pandemic via Facebook, stating that all planned ITM events or gatherings have been postponed “with immediate effect”:

    “The Irish Traveller Movement is guided by the Health Service Executive and the Government response to COVID-19/Coronavirus. Currently, there is no vaccine or drug available for COVID-19 and it is expected that there will be community spread of the virus, which is now being classified as a global epidemic. 

    “Daily government bulletins are being issued to the public on measures that may require immediate decisions which help limit the spread of the virus and protect people who are most vulnerable. Where possible we recommend one-to-one meetings by phone,” they wrote.

    Where there is further Government advice, or if an ITM staff member is infected, this will entail the closure of  ITM’s premises for 14 days:

    “ITM staff who are not infected will be supported to carry out work remotely and with some staff cover at our office. Please contact staff by email or on mobile if you cannot reach them on our landline 01 6796577.” Employees have been encouraged to work remotely,” the post concluded.

    The Irish Traveller Movement conducted a Risk Assessment of their working environment and recommended a Risk Assessment audit to be carried out daily by Local Traveller Organisations to determine the level of risk to your organisation and the community.

    The All Ireland Traveller Health Study, which took place in 2010, reported multiple health inequalities which have contributed to poor health status.

    Traveller women live 11.5 years less than women in the general population, on average, while Traveller men live roughly 15 years less. The number of deaths among Traveller infants is also estimated at 14.1 for every 1,000 live birth compared to 3.9 for every 1,000 live births among the general population. 

    Deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and suicides have also increased in Travellers, as opposed to the general population.

    The HSE are applying the same protocols to the community, despite health disadvantages:

    “If you develop symptoms you will need to self-isolate and phone your GP. Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. The GP will assess you over the phone. If they think you need to be tested for coronavirus, they will arrange a test,” the website instructs.

    “You will need to self-isolate if you have coronavirus or have symptoms of coronavirus. This could be before you get tested for coronavirus, while you wait for test results or when a positive result is confirmed.”

    Dublin City Council are working closely and are in communication with the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee and all local Traveller Representative Groups. The Council is also working closely with the HSE’s Social Inclusion Unit Northside and Southside to provide Travellers who may have contracted the virus with support.

    For full instructions on social distancing, self-isolation and protocols to follow if you do become infected with Covid-19, check the HSE website.