Kaetsu University professor Yoichi Takahashi likened the variety of coronavirus instances in Japan to “a ripple,” including: “so you’re telling me people want to cancel the Olympics for this? lol lol.”
The tweet has garnered over 13,000 retweets since he posted it on Sunday.
“I can’t believe that a special government adviser is a person who would belittle the deaths of people just to justify hosting the Olympic Games,” stated one Twitter consumer.
Japan has tried to reassure its public that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which have been rescheduled for July 23-August eight this 12 months, may be held amid a coronavirus pandemic.
With simply over 10,000 fatalities, Japan has suffered fewer deaths than different nations, however has lagged in rolling out its vaccine program and seen a surge in instances in current weeks.
Takahashi, a former finance ministry bureaucrat, is understood to be near Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and met with him as lately as per week in the past, based on native media.
When requested about Takahashi’s feedback throughout a parliamentary listening to on Monday, Suga stated he “will not comment on what Takahashi said in his personal capacity.”
The Suga cupboard’s approval scores dipped to a brand new low of 40% based on a ballot carried out by broadcaster JNN final week.
The similar ballot reveals 37% of respondents thought the Olympics ought to be canceled, 33% believed that the occasion ought to be held with restricted spectators, and 28% thought it ought to be postponed.
