NEWS
The Tokyo Olympic torch relay will take another detour this weekend when it enters the southern island of Okinawa.A leg of the relay on Okinawa's resort island of Miyakojima set for Sunday has been canceled altogether with cases surging in Japan. Other legs on Okinawa will take place.
A 17-day state of emergency went into effect on April 25 in some areas in Japan, which has shut down department stores and bars in Tokyo and the country’s second largest metropolis of Osaka.
"We don’t want people from outside the island coming in. Human life is at stake,” Hayako Shimizu, a teacher in Miyakojima, told the Associated Press.The relay, which will involve 10,000 runners from every corner of Japan, started six weeks ago and has been mostly on schedule despite major rerouting in Osaka and in Matsuyama City in nearby Ehime prefecture.
The relay is made up of a convoy of about a dozen vehicles with sponsors names festooned on them: Coca-Cola, Toyota Motor Corp. and Nippon Life Insurance Co. The torch bearer follows, each running for a couple of minutes, before giving the flame to the next runner who awaits holding another torch.
The torch relay — like planning for the postponed Olympics that are to open on July 23 — is filled with uncertainty, constant changes, and questions about why it is taking place — and how it will take place.A six-day, on-and-off diving event, opened Saturday in Tokyo with 225 athletes from from 46 countries — but no fans.
The world governing body of swimming FINA listed one of divers as former Olympic bronze medalist Tom Daley of Britain. But other divers were from various countries including Mexico, Germany, Canada, Romania, Colombia, Japan, Malaysia, Ukraine, and Russia.The diving event is one of several tests this month — all without fans. Organizers say they will be decide in June how many fans — if any — will be allowed for the Olympics. Fans from abroad have already been banned.
In a briefing on Friday, Hidemasa Nakamura, the delivery official of the Tokyo Olympics, said the focus was on “how safely we can have the games" and not on whether they should take place in the middle of a pandemic.
Other are not so sure about allowing 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes into Japan.
One is Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in ice hockey who just completed medical school.
Wickenheiser is also a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, and was one of the first a year ago to say the Olympics should be postponed.
“I would love to see the games happen, it would be a great message of hope for the world. But I think we always have to remember what we’re in the middle of right now," Wickenheiser said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.Wickenheiser hinted she was probably a “black sheep” in Olympic circles but added: “I don't really care.”
Dr. Shigeru Omi, who heads the Japanese government panel on the coronavirus response, warned a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that the virus is spreading and putting hos“It is time the (Olympic) organizers and others involved to be responsible and seriously start thinking about how infections are spreading, and the medical system is getting stretched thin, and then to inform the public.”pitals under stress.Olympic organizers say they will need about 10,000 medical professionals during the Olympics, and recently officials requested an additional 500 nurses.
“The infections are definitely spreading, including in developing countries, and so it is important to thoroughly understand this situation and know there are definitely risks''.
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