Olympics in doubt if virus strengthens: Expert

TOKYO • The Tokyo Olympics may have to be postponed again if the coronavirus mutates into a stronger pathogen, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, a prominent Japanese government adviser, said yesterday.

However, a recent spike in cases in the Japanese capital is due to a failure to stick to guidelines to prevent contagion, he added.

A physician who served as a science adviser to the Japanese cabinet from 2006-2008, Dr Kurokawa also headed an independent probe into the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Currently, he is advising the government on the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I think the virus is mutating all the time... it may be a much stronger virus that triggers a second wave," he said. "The Olympics may be postponed again, but I can't predict.

"I think it's small incidents happening in Tokyo... new cases are because people are not abiding by recommendations. But if there are some mutations, that is a completely different story."

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told Reuters on Monday the Olympics, originally scheduled to start this month but put off to next year because of the pandemic, must go ahead as a symbol of world unity in overcoming the coronavirus.

The spike in infections in Tokyo, which accounts for more than one-third of Japan's more than 23,000 cases, has prompted a backlash against a planned campaign to promote domestic tourism.

Dr Kurokawa said authorities were trying to balance priorities.

"I think one of the concerns of this pandemic is how to prevent the spreading out of this corona infection. The other side of this issue is... how to promote the economy. Many people are losing their jobs," he said, adding that he thought the government was "carefully balancing" the two priorities.

Dr Kurokawa also said that whatever experts recommended based on science, political leaders had to make the final policy call.

"The scientific community's recommendations have to be fact-based, science-based recommendations, but politicians have to make the decisions," he said.

"Scientists give advice, but decision-making is not by scientists."

REUTERS