Infectious Disease

Preparations for the Olympics continue as the US warns against traveling to Japan

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Disclosure:
Coates is IOC Vice President. Sell ​​reports advising you on advisory fees at athlete events, none of which included the IOC or related organizations, and volunteer with USA Swimming and the Aquatics Coalition to develop safe approaches to returning to pool activities. Del Rio and Sparrow do not report any relevant financial information.

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This week the CDC and the US State Department issued a level 4 travel advisory warning Americans not to travel to Japan because of “very high levels of COVID-19.”

“Given the current situation in Japan, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk of receiving and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid traveling to Japan,” the CDC said.

Olympic rings

Tokyo will host the Olympics in a pandemic.
Source: Adobe Stock.

The warning came just two months before the Tokyo Summer Olympics kicks off on July 23, after being postponed last year over pandemic concerns.

The organizers have assured the public that the games are safe.

“It has become clearer than ever that these Games are safe for all participants and the Japanese people,” said the Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) John Coates said recently.

There have been more than 738,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan, including more than 12,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. Three million Japanese citizens are fully vaccinated – only 2.4% of the country’s total population, according to Our World in Data.

In an editorial recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was Annie K. Sparrow, MD, MPHThe Assistant Professor of Population Health Science and Policy at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and other experts raised concerns about the upcoming Games, writing that the IOC’s decision to continue the Olympics “is not based on the best of science.”

“The game books claim that athletes participate at their own risk, but without distinguishing between the athletes’ various risk levels and recognizing the limitations of interventions such as temperature tests and face covering,” wrote Sparrow and colleagues. “Likewise, the IOC has ignored the lessons learned from other major sporting events.”

The authors recommended that the WHO set up an emergency committee made up of experts from the fields of occupational health and safety, epidemiology of infectious diseases, construction and ventilation technology, and representatives of athletes to “consider these factors and advise a risk management approach for the Tokyo Olympics “.

Tara Kirk Sell

Carlos del Rio

Former US Olympic silver medal swimmer Tara Kirk Sell, PhD, now a The lead scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said there were concerns that the future Olympics could spread COVID-19 among athletes and potentially increase transmission in Japan.

“I think many of these effects can be mitigated,” Sell told Healio. “We know a lot more about how the disease spreads, how to prevent it, and how to test it than we did a year ago. We also have some very effective vaccines that are coming out on the market. My main concern is that while it is possible to have a safe Olympics, it looks like the desire to host the Olympics is diminishing in Japan and I think that is an important consideration. “

Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member Carlos del Rio, MD, Executive Associate Dean at Emory University School of Medicine said the Olympics, as long as they implement damage control strategies, are unlikely to be a “super-spreader event.”

“I think the Olympics can certainly be toned down,” del Rio told Healio. “Even though it is Japan

With an increase of about 4,000 cases a day – we have about 30,000 in comparison – Japan is really increasing vaccinations. I would make sure every athlete and team is vaccinated. “

While it can be safe to host the Games, Sell identified several potential “problem areas” including eating together, transportation, and managing close relationships without unnecessarily excluding individuals.

“It is now clear that Japan will not vaccinate a large part of its population at the start of the Olympic Games. Therefore, indoor gatherings are especially important for many unvaccinated people. It wouldn’t be a good idea to bring local fans together in crowded situations, ”said Sell. “I think it’s pretty reasonable to think that most athletes and staff can be in a bubble, but there will still be volunteers, bus drivers and other people mingling with the athletes. The Olympic Games are always expensive, so it certainly needs the support of the Japanese people. “

The US Olympic Committee did not respond to several requests for comment on this story.

References:

International Olympic Committee. Tokyo 2020 switches to operational delivery mode. https://olympics.com/ioc/news/tokyo-2020-enters-operational-delivery-mode. Accessed May 26, 2021.

Johns Hopkins. Coronavirus Resource Center: Japan. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/japan. Accessed May 26, 2021.

Sparrow AK et al. N Engl J Med. 2021; doi: 10.1056 / NEJMp2108567.

US State Department. Japan International Travel Information. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Japan.html. Accessed May 26, 2021.

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