Society

US urges no travel to Japan as Olympic countdown ticks on

May 25 (Nikkei) - The U.S. on Monday warned against all travel to Japan, noting "a very high level of COVID-19 in the country" less than two months before the long-delayed Summer Olympics are to open here.

The State Department raised its advisory from Level 3, or "reconsider travel," to Level 4, or "do not travel" -- its highest for overseas trips. Sri Lanka's advisory was also raised to Level 4.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government will decide as early as this weekend whether to extend the state of emergency in Tokyo and other prefectures beyond the current end date of May 31 and into next month.

On whether the games can be held during a pandemic state of emergency, a vice president of the International Olympic Committee is emphatic that they can.

"The answer is absolutely yes," John Coates said at a remote press conference Friday. The World Health Organization has advised that the games can safely go on, thanks to measures being put in place, he said.

But the U.S. travel advisory and the the emergency extension cast further doubt on whether the games will go on as scheduled.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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