Japan's Daily COVID-19 Cases Surpass 2,000 for First Time... Undermining Tokyo Olympic Commitment

Third Wave of COVID-19... Cumulative Cases Reach 124,250
Prime Minister Suga: "Tokyo Olympics Will Be Held with Spectators"

Yoshihide Suga (right), Prime Minister of Japan, greets Thomas Bach (left), President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who visited Japan, with a fist bump at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on the 16th. During the meeting, Prime Minister Suga and President Bach reaffirmed the hosting of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, postponed due to COVID-19, in July next year.

In Japan, the number of new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) exceeded 2,000 for the first time in a single day on the 18th. This came just two days after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met with Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), reaffirming their commitment to safely hold the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in July next year.

According to NHK's tally, the newly announced confirmed cases nationwide from prefectures and airport quarantine stations on that day were 493 in Tokyo, 273 in Osaka, 233 in Hokkaido, and 226 in Kanagawa Prefecture, totaling 2,195 cases (as of 6:15 p.m.).

This is the first time since the first patient was reported on January 16 this year that Japan's daily confirmed cases have exceeded 2,000.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases has increased to 124,250, including 712 cruise ship passengers involved in a cluster infection incident at Yokohama Port in February.

The total number of deaths increased by 12 on the day, reaching 1,945.

The upward trend in confirmed cases in Japan is expected to continue.

Google's prediction site, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast COVID-19 infection situations, projected that the daily average number of new confirmed cases in Japan will exceed 1,900 during the 28-day period (two weeks) from the 15th of this month to July 12.

Although COVID-19 infections are rapidly spreading, the Japanese government has shown a negative stance toward responding with a state of emergency like during the first wave, due to concerns about the economic impact.

The Japanese government declared a state of emergency on April 7 during former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration in seven metropolitan areas including Tokyo and Osaka, where many confirmed cases were reported, to suppress socio-economic activities, then expanded it nationwide before lifting all restrictions on May 25.

Due to the state of emergency, Japan's real gross domestic product (GDP, revised figure) for the second quarter (April to June) decreased by 7.9% compared to the previous quarter.

Katsunobu Kato, Chief Cabinet Secretary and government spokesperson, said at a press conference on the day that although COVID-19 is spreading, it is not a situation where a uniform request to refrain from movement across prefectural borders is necessary.

However, Tokyo Metropolitan Government held a meeting with experts on the same day and raised the alert level for infection status within Tokyo to the highest of four levels.

Meanwhile, despite the rapid spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Suga has not wavered in his determination to hold the Tokyo Olympics.

On the 16th, Prime Minister Suga met with IOC President Thomas Bach, who is visiting Japan, confirming the plan to hold the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, postponed by one year, in the summer of next year, and even mentioned plans to allow spectators into the venues.

There is analysis that Prime Minister Suga is concerned that canceling the Olympics or holding them without spectators would lead to criticism that the Japanese government's infection control measures have failed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.