Tokyo Olympics face another looming headache - no medical staff
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[February 03, 2021]
By Sakura Murakami
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese doctors and
nurses fighting the novel coronavirus will not have the time to
volunteer to help at the Olympics, a medical association has said,
raising another headache for organisers determined to hold the postponed
Games.
The director of the Tokyo Medical Association, which represents 20,000
doctors from dozens of smaller medical groups, said doctors and nurses
were under too much strain dealing with a third wave of the pandemic to
even consider signing up for the Olympics.
"No matter how I look at it, it's impossible," said Satoru Arai, whose
association was asked by both the Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee and
the Tokyo Metropolitan Government last March to secure more than 3,500
medical staff for the event.
"I'm hearing doctors who initially signed up to volunteer say there's no
way they can take time off to help when their hospitals are completely
overwhelmed," Arai told Reuters this week, adding that he could not
bring himself to push for volunteers at such a critical time.
The Games had to be postponed from last July and August as the
coronavirus spread around the world and are now scheduled for July
23-Aug. 8.
But persistent clusters of infections in Japan have raised questions
about the feasibility of holding the Games this year and eroded support
for the extravaganza among a public nervous about athletes and
spectators bringing in new cases.
New infections in Japan rose to new highs in early January, triggering a
state of emergency in Tokyo and some other areas. The government
extended the emergency in most of those places on Tuesday.
Japan has fared better than some other countries in the struggle against
the virus. It has had 390,000 cases and 5,794 deaths.
As of last Wednesday, 73% of beds available in Tokyo for COVID-19
patients were full, with 2,933 people.
The government is determined to hold the showcase event, partly to
herald what it hopes will be the end of the pandemic.
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A man wears a protective mask amid the coronavirus (COVID-19)
outbreak in front of the giant Olympic rings in Tokyo, Japan,
January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon//File Photo
NO FANS?
As part of the preparations, Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto told
parliament last week the government had a plan to secure about
10,000 medical personnel for the Games.
Arai said an Olympics without spectators would relieve most of the
burden of providing doctors and his association believed that's how
it should be organised.
While the possibility of a Games devoid of fans has been floated,
organisers say they are reluctant to even contemplate that.
The Tokyo Olympics organising committee did not immediately respond
to a Reuters request for comment about medical services.
Organisers have suggested that volunteer doctors could be paid for
their work, according to a lawmaker who attended a Tuesday meeting.
That would mark a departure from what has become common practice at
recent Olympics, with medical staff coming forward as unpaid
volunteers.
But Arai said it was not about the money. His concern is simply that
doctors would be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients and
vaccinations through the summer.
Tokyo Games organisers and the International Olympic Committee will
hold a briefing on COVID-19 measures at 0900 GMT, at which officials
are expected to affirm their commitment to holding the Olympics in
Tokyo this July.
Arai said his association had not received any details about plans.
"We got worried and reached out to the Olympic organising committee
at the end of last year, asking what the plan was," he said. "But we
still haven't heard anything."
(Reporting by Sakura Murakami; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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