80% Of Japanese Surveyed Say Olympics Should Be Canceled | SwimSwam

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

The 2020 Olympic Games originally slated for July of last year due to the coronavirus pandemic are now on target to begin on July 23rd. This is despite the ever-present coronavirus impact, which included a state of emergency being declared just last week in the host city of Tokyo, Japan.

On the heels of this announcement, recent surveys reveal that overall popular support for hosting the Games is waning within the nation of Japan.

In two polls conducted by Japanese news agency Kyodo and the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) this week, more than 80% of respondents said that the Tokyo Olympics should be canceled or postponed or say they believe the Olympics will not take place. (AP)

Tokyo reported a record of 2,447 new cases last Thursday, a 50% increase from the previous day — which was also a record day. Japan has attributed over 3,500 deaths to COVID-19, relatively low for a country of 126 million. (AP)

The situation led Canadian International Olympic Committee member Richard Pound to say in an interview with BBC, “I can’t be certain [the Olympics will happen] because the ongoing elephant in the room would be the surges in the virus.”

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