Opposition to Olympics escalates as Japan declares its fourth state of emergency
With the Olympics, the Japanese government declared a fourth state of emergency in Tokyo on July 12, just a few weeks after the third state of emergency was lifted on June 20. Tokyo, one of the world’s most densely populated cities, saw a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases immediately after the end of the previous restrictions.
Cases are continuing to increase, with schools among the sites where infections have been detected. The highly infectious Delta variant has been reported at a middle school and a preschool. Tokyo saw 1,149 new cases with a daily positivity rate of 14.2 percent on the July 14 and 1,308 new cases on July 15. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimates that daily infection numbers will reach 2,406 by August 11. The state of emergency will remain in force until August 22.