With Japan caught out by Covid-19, the Tokyo Olympics will be a challenge
- As infections and deaths mount among Diamond Princess cruise passengers, Japan’s ad hoc response to the outbreak, in part possibly to avoid upsetting China, is looking wholly inadequate. Will it learn its lessons in time for the Summer Olympics?
In addition, Diamond Princess passengers had to wait a long time for coronavirus testing to be done. This could have been avoided by involving private labs. The Japanese government was clearly unprepared for the outbreak.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has also issued a low-level advisory for Japan, calling for “increased caution” from travellers heading there, raising it to level 2 on the four-point advisory scale. Some countries have introduced advanced screening for people from countries such as Japan and South Korea, besides China.
A lot remains to be done as Japan comes to grips with the reality of Covid-19. This is surely going to have an impact on the tourism sector, while other sectors that could be affected include aviation.
Clearly, Tokyo has been caught napping with regard to the outbreak of the coronavirus, which causes the disease named Covid-19, and we will have to wait and see whether it manages to bounce back.
It may be too early to write off Tokyo for its response just yet. But whether officials can learn lessons from this debacle in the run-up to the Summer Olympics is another matter altogether.
Dr Rupakjyoti Borah is a senior research fellow with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, Tokyo. The views expressed in this article are personal