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Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, it's been more than a year since Americans could visit Japan as tourists. As we reported, no international visitors are allowed to attend the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo but athletes will still be coming in from around the world if they're not in Japan already. And the games are set to go on this July 23rd with the Paralympics beginning on August 24th.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Japan has seen a decrease in new positive COVID tests since its recent high of more than 7,500 cases. That was recorded on May 12th. Overall, Japan's seen only a fraction of the cases and deaths that America has even accounting for the population difference. And the Asian country's numbers are relatively low despite the fact that 98 percent of its people have not been vaccinated.
Japan as a whole is more resistant to vaccines than the U.S. is. Still, U.S. officials are telling Americans to stay out of the Asian country and though Olympic officials say Japan's done a good job of managing the risks so far. Some groups are still calling for another postponement or cancellation of the games.
ELINA WANG: The U.S. State Department is warning Americans to avoid travel to Japan because of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.
It's issued a Level 4, do not travel advisory the highest cautionary level. The CDC says that even fully vaccinated travelers risk getting and spreading COVID-19 variants in Japan.
The U.S. Olympic Committee says it's confident that its athletes can still safely compete. Japanese officials are downplaying this advisory saying it does not impact U.S. support for the Tokyo games. But the contrast between what Olympic officials are saying and the reality here on the ground is only growing.
Tokyo and large parts of Japan are still under a state of emergency. Only two percent of the Japanese population is fully vaccinated and the medical system is under strain. In Osaka, doctors are warning of a medical system collapse with hospitals running out of bed space and ventilators. At the same time, Olympic organizers are only portraying complete and absolute confidence that these games will go ahead safely.
