Photo/Illutration The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan holds a meeting on June 30 on the handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Tsubasa Yokoyama)

A government official tried to ease fears that a COVID-19 outbreak at the Tokyo Olympics could collapse the medical system by saying athletes are young and unlikely to develop severe symptoms if infected.

Instead, the comment from the Cabinet Secretariat bureaucrat who is in charge of promoting the Tokyo Games drew looks of bewilderment at a June 30 meeting with members of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

The official was responding to a question from a CDP lawmaker, who asked, “Don’t you think hospital beds for Tokyo residents will be in short supply and the health care system will be overstrained if a large number of Olympic athletes and officials contract the virus?”

The official replied: “We will conduct tests daily and manage and control their actions and health. Let’s say athletes do test positive. We assume most of them will have either no symptoms or just mild ones.”

Opposition lawmakers questioned that optimistic outlook.

“What wishful thinking,” a lawmaker in attendance said.

Another CDP member asked if such thinking would affect the triage situation.

After the meeting, the official told The Asahi Shimbun that the statement was based on the view of a health care expert of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“If athletes contract the virus, we will know that they are positive before they develop symptoms,” the official quoted the expert as saying.

The official added, “Compared with general groups of people, athletes are mostly young. It is unlikely that they will develop severe symptoms and fill up the hospital beds.”

(This article was written by Tsubasa Yokoyama, Kai Ichino and Sachiko Miwa.)

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