The US State Department raised Japan’s alert level to 4 just two months before the Tokyo Olympics. The US warned citizens not to visit the country due to COVID concerns. The Japanese government decided to extend its COVID state of Emergency on Tokyo, Osaka, and other areas supposedly expiring on May 31.
According to the State Department, CDC sees Japan facing a “very high level of COVID19”. The CDC announced that “Because of the current situation in Japan, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk of getting and spreading COVID19 variants and should avoid all travel to Japan”.
Impact on the Tokyo Olympics
There was no mention of the Tokyo Olympics in the advisory. However, the Olympics is coming soon. It is scheduled from July 23 to August 8. And in effect, the advisory could potentially affect the US government’s decision whether or not to send athletes to the games. Japan already announced that there will be no overseas spectators and volunteers.
A Japanese senior administration official downplayed the recent US advisory. The senior administration official said that Japan also released the same advisory on other countries. There are also going to be “special slots” for Olympic athletes and those involved in the games.
The US Olympic & Paralympic Committee announced following the advisory that athletes won’t be at undue risk for competing in the Summer Olympics. The committee announces in a statement that “We feel confident that the current mitigation practices in place for athletes and staff by both the USOPC and the Tokyo Organizing Committee, coupled with the testing before travel, on arrival in Japan during Games time, will allow for safe participation of Team USA athletes this summer”.
Travel Advisory
Half of the states have fully vaccinated 50% of adults. But despite having great progress with their vaccination efforts, the US is currently looking to play safe. The US State Department raised alert level 4 on the majority of countries in the world. The main reason for this approach is the presence of COVID variants.
