The Arizona Republic

Osaka wants torch relay rerouted amid virus spike

- Mari Yamaguchi

TOKYO – Japan’s Osaka prefecture issued a special warning Wednesday that a rapid surge in coronaviru­s cases is placing medical systems in the region at the verge of collapse and requested the cancellati­on of the Olympic torch relay along all public roads in the prefecture.

Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura declared a “medial emergency” in the western Japanese prefecture, where daily cases have reached new highs, and asked hospitals to urgently prepare additional beds.

Yoshimura, who previously asked for a cancellati­on of the torch relay only in Osaka city, said all segments on public roads should be canceled. The Olympic organizing committee said later Wednesday that it will hold the Osaka leg of the Olympic torch run, scheduled for April 13-14, at the 1970 Osaka Expo commemorat­ive park.

The Tokyo Olympics are to start in just over three months with Japan’s vaccinatio­n drive still in its initial stages. Experts say more contagious new variants of the virus are becoming more common and are urging health officials to respond quickly to prevent an explosive increase with only a fraction of the people inoculated.

“Medical systems are on the verge of collapse,” Yoshimura said at a news conference. He attributed the rapid spike in infections to a new variant of the virus. “Obviously it spreads more rapidly and it is more contagious,(asterisk) he said. About 70% of hospital beds available in Osaka are now occupied, the threshold for declaring a “medical emergency,” officials said.

The measures come two days after Yoshimura issued a set of special virus control measures for Osaka city alone following Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s decision to place the prefecture­s of Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi under a semi-emergency.

Osaka’s neighborin­g prefecture of Hyogo is also facing an upsurge and has imposed special virus measures in four cities beginning Monday, along with Sendai, a city in the northern prefecture of Miyagi.

 ?? NOBUKI ITO/KYODO NEWS VIA AP ?? Osaka prefecture issued a special warning Wednesday over the rapid upsurge of the coronaviru­s cases that has put the area’s medical systems on the brink of collapse, requesting the cancellati­on of the Olympic torch relay on public roads.
NOBUKI ITO/KYODO NEWS VIA AP Osaka prefecture issued a special warning Wednesday over the rapid upsurge of the coronaviru­s cases that has put the area’s medical systems on the brink of collapse, requesting the cancellati­on of the Olympic torch relay on public roads.

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