Protesters in Tokyo call for the Olympic Games to be canceled, May 17. Photo: Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association — a group of about 6,000 doctors — has called for the 2021 Olympic Games to be canceled due to an upsurge of COVID-19 cases in Japan.
Why it matters: Rising case numbers in Japan are a reminder that the pandemic is not over even as cases, hospitalizations and deaths fall in the United States.
- The physicians' group said Japan's health system would not be able to accommodate the international teams' possible medical needs, per the Washington Post.
What they're saying: “We strongly request that the authorities convince the [International Olympic Committee] that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games,” the association said in its statement, per the Post.
- It added that Tokyo hospitals “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity."
The big picture: The Tokyo Summer Games — presently 66 days away — were postponed last year due to the pandemic.
- In April, Japan declared a COVID emergency due to rising case numbers.