Tokyo Prepares for Fourth COVID-19 Lockdown Ahead of Tokyo Olympics

Tokyo is preparing to enter its fourth state of emergency and COVID-19 lock down ahead of the currently scheduled Tokyo Olympics. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is still evolving in unprecedented ways as various countries are preparing to combat the continuing spread, but Japan is currently facing a unique situation as they are currently also preparing to invite athletes from all over the world to participate in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo beginning later this month on July 23rd. With this event fast approaching, Tokyo is preparing for its fourth state of emergency since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the government’s plan to enact a new state of emergency due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that will be extending until August 22nd. This will not only include the events of the Tokyo Summer Olympics (running from July 23rd to August 8th, following a delay from last year due to the pandemic as well), but according to a report from Kyodo News, is also meant to curb travel for the Summer “bon” holiday in Japan later this Summer.

It has been previously announced that the events of the Tokyo Olympics this Summer will not be allowing crowds in attendance, and will instead be taking place behind closed doors in order to better stave off spreading. This marks the fourth state of emergency in Tokyo overall. The first was enacted back in April 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the second was enacted earlier this January. A third state of emergency had been declared this April, and was only supposed to last for two weeks before being extended until June 20th.

It had been eased into a semi-emergency (which places fewer restrictions on businesses and “high risk” activities rather than cover an entire prefecture) on June 21st, but this will be changing with the enacting of the fourth state of emergency due to a recent rebound in the number of reported infections. It has yet to be revealed how this state of emergency will further impact the Summer Games (or the production schedules of anime and manga industries), but more updates are expected in the coming weeks as the Olympics event approaches.

What do you think of this news of another state of emergency in Tokyo? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!

via Kyodo News