at half-time for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, the Japanese government overwhelmed by a new wave of contaminations

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Simple footnote to the first days of the great story of the Tokyo Olympics (Olympics), the resurgence of contaminations due to the coronavirus, which exploded by 217% in one week in the capital, while the threshold of 10 000 daily cases were surpassed all over Japan, remake the headlines of the media. A new state of emergency came into effect on August 2 in three departments bordering the capital (Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama) as well as in Osaka. Tokyo has also been under a state of emergency since July 8.

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If the Archipelago has long been spared compared to other advanced countries, it is no longer so today. And the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga seems somewhat outdated. His communication suffers even more: hardly convincing, his speeches lack empathy for patients and hospital staff. Doctors and nurses, some of whom must remain mobilized on the sites of the Olympic Games, are struggling to cope with the arrival of new patients, 75% of whom are affected by the highly contagious Delta variant.

The Prime Minister is monotonously calling on the population to follow the government recommendations: stay at home and watch the Games on television, reduce going out to what is strictly necessary and not go to restaurants – establishments must no longer serve alcohol after 7 p.m. and close at 8 p.m. But in Japan, a state of emergency does not mean confinement. Nor is it accompanied by coercive measures restricting movement, which would be unconstitutional.

A leaky Olympic bubble

Mr. Suga, on the other hand, welcomes the measures taken to avoid contamination in the “bubble” of the Olympic village – 259 positive cases have however been detected there since the 1er July -, causing some annoyance in the population, who did not receive such attention. According to the Prime Minister, “ the Olympics have no effect on the resurgence of contamination “. But questions remain. The thousands of police officers and volunteers, coming from all over Japan and, for many, unvaccinated – but who can circulate freely in the capital -, will return home after the event, potentially carrying the virus.

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The Olympic bubble is not waterproof. Two Georgian athletes have certainly lost their accreditation for going out into town. But the respect of the directives, starting with the wearing of the mask, remains erratic within the “Olympic family”.

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