US warns against all travel to Japan amid Covid surge two months before Olympics

United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee says it still expects athletes to attend games

The Olympic Games are due to start in Japan on 23 July (Getty Images)

The US government warned against all travel to Japan amid a Covd surge just months before the country hosts the Olympic games.

The alert issued by health officials and Joe Biden’s state department does not ban US citizens from visiting the Japan, but could impact on travellers’ insurance and cause complications for athletes due to participate in the games, which begin in July.

“Travellers should avoid all travel to Japan,” the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in new Covid-19 update. “Because of the current situation in Japan even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants.”

The State Department’s warning, which came after the CDC alert, said: “Do not travel to Japan due to Covid-19.” The department’s travel alert for Japan was also raised from Level 3 (reconsider travel) to Level 4 (do not travel).

However, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee said it still expected that American athletes will be able to compete at the Tokyo Games safely.

“We feel confident that the current mitigation practices in place for athletes and staff by both the USOPC and the Tokyo Organising Committee, coupled with the testing before travel, on arrival in Japan, and during games time, will allow for safe participation of Team USA athletes this summer,” the committee explained in a statement on Monday.

On Monday, Japan attempted to accelerate its vaccination rollout, mobilising military doctors and nurses to give jabs to older adults in two of its major cities. The move comes as it tries to curb case numbers of Covid-19 in the run up to the Olympic Games, amid increasing calls to cancel the games.

Currently, only a very small percentage - thought to be around 2 per cent to 4 per cent - of people living in Japan have been vaccinated against coronavirus. There are fears new variants could emerge and spread among the majority of the population not vaccinated.

Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged the country’s 36 million older people will be vaccinated by the end of July.

Mr Suga remains determined that the country will hold the games in Tokyo from 23 July, after the 2020 games were delayed a year due to Covid.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Japan has recorded just over 12,000 deaths from Covid-19. This is relatively low by world standards but high compared to other parts of Asia.

Tokyo and Osaka, as well as several other areas, are currently in a state of emergency. This had been set to end on 31 May but it is likely it will be extended.