Maximum alert level raised "Level 4: Don't travel"
Organizer of the Olympic Games, Tokyo, is facing obstacles to hold the Games in 2021, after they were postponed in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic
Source: Tanjug
The latest worrying sign for the Summer Olympics arrived today when the State Department advised American citizens not to travel to Japan due to the increased number of people suffering from the corona virus, CNN reported.
The advice called "Level 4: Don't travel" is the highest possible level of caution in the history of State Department warnings, according to CNN.
It has been more than a year since the United States called on tourists to be careful when traveling abroad, and Japan was closed to tourist trips of American citizens during the pandemic.
Americans were able to enter Japan, but only under certain circumstances. The Olympic Games are still on the program and should be held from July 23 to August 8 in Japan.
Growing number of new cases of infection was recorded in Japan, and the number increased after the lifting of the state of emergency in March. In the previous period, there was increasing pressure to postpone the Olympic Games again.
Defending himself against critics last week, President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, said that the Japanese and the organizers of the Olympic Games in Tokyo would make the right decision regarding the assessment of the overall situation.
The Tokyo Association of Doctors, which numbers about 6.000 people, recently sent a letter calling for the cancellation of the Olympic Games. At the same time, about 350.000 citizens signed a petition to cancel the Games within nine days and sent signatures to the organizers.
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On the other hand, the Japanese government rejected allegations that the warning of the American authorities to its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan due to the increase in the number of infected with the coronavirus, will affect the desire of athletes to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.
"We believe that there is no change in the position of the United States in supporting the Japanese government to organize the Games," said Japanese government official Katsunobu Katō, adding that Washington said that the travel warning was not issued for the participation of the US Olympic team.
