The postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan are slated to start in less than two months. Whether the United States and other western nations will be heading to Tokyo is now in question.
Per ABC, the U.S. State Department on Monday issued the highest possible travel advisory for Japan due to the high levels of COVID-19 cases in the nation.
“Travelers should avoid all travel to Japan,” the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced on Monday. “Because of the current situation in Japan even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Japan.”
Could this potentially impact the United States involvement in the 2020 Summer Olympics? There’s a chance.
The International Olympic Committee did not comment on the latest travel advisory from United States officials. But John Coates, chair of the IOC Coordination Commission, did note last week that the games would be safe for all involved.
“It has become clearer than ever that these games will be safe for everyone participating and the Japanese people,” Coates said in a statement.
Summer Olympics and COVID-19 numbers in the United States, Japan
As more Americans get vaccinated from the virus that causes COVID-19, cases are dwindling domestically. That includes a mere 14,144 confirmed cases over the past 24 hours. The concern here is vaccinated individuals contracting and spreading new variants of the virus. As for Japan, that region has seen a major uptick in recent cases.
There’s been some push back from the Japanese population as it relates to their country hosting the Summer Olympics with a new wave of COVID-19 hitting its shores. As of right now, only 4.4% of the Japanese population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. That’s compared to roughly 50% of the qualified American population.
This all comes with the NBA having changed its 2020-21 schedule to take into account potential participation of star players in the Summer Olympics. Whether big-name players on the hardwood and other athletes in the United States opt out of the games remains to be seen.