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The Resurgence of COVID-19 Cases in Asia Threatens Olympics

  • People walk on a street in Manila, the Philippines, April 15, 2021.

    People walk on a street in Manila, the Philippines, April 15, 2021. | Photo: Xinhua

Published 15 April 2021
Opinion

The capacity of hospitals to deal with intensive care cases is approaching historic highs in the Asia Pacific region.

Secretary-General of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Toshihiro Nikai on Thursday said that canceling the Tokyo Olympics this summer could be an option if the COVID-19 situation continues to worsen.

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This member of the ruling party explained that the Olympic games scheduled for July should be canceled "decidedly" if the epidemiological measures adopted are not enough to contain the spread of the disease.

"If there is a surge in infections because of the Olympics, there will be no meaning to having the Olympics," Nikai said less than 100 days before the opening ceremony of the games, which were already postponed previously since they were to take place in 2020.

The LDP politician's concerns come amid the acceleration of the number of new COVID-19 cases throughout the Asia Pacific area.

For instance, India’s COVID-19 surge continued as a fresh high of 200,739 new cases were registered on Thursday during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 14,074,564. A weekend curfew was imposed in New Delhi following a steep rise in COVID-19 cases over the past few days.

Bangladesh's COVID-19 death toll reached a grim milestone as 94 more people died from the pandemic, bringing the total fatality to 10,081. The country's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) also reported 4,192 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the case tally to 707,362.

The Philippines' Health Department reported 11,429 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in this country to 904,285. The death toll climbed to 15,594.

South Korea reported 698 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 112,117. The daily caseload was down from 731 the previous day, but it stayed around 700, raising worry about the fourth wave of the pandemic.

These and other national cases are generating a situation of epidemiological stress in the Asia Pacific, a region in which the capacity of hospitals to deal with intensive care cases is approaching historic highs.

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