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Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

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Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#571

Post by ng7j5d9 »

It's already been established that hosting the Olympics in the current fashion is generally a money loser for the host city. All of those resources expended to build state-of-the-art facilities, housing, transportation, etc...with rosy ideas of how they might be repurposed after the Olympics....which generally don't come to fruition.

And that's when the Olympics actually occur, and the host city is able to gain some revenue from visitors coming and spending a considerable amount of money.

If Tokyo builds the required infrastructure and then no one comes, I've got to think future host cities will re-think this madness.

Personally I'd like to see a distributed Olympics, with mostly pre-existing facilities being used. Maybe swimming happens in Copenhagen, basketball in LA, beach volleyball in Phuket, etc. Maybe some events could be held in smaller countries or cities that had never been able to complete for a full Olympics before. A larger percentage of the world population would be local to some part of the Olympics, perhaps for once highlighting sameness rather than differences.

Or screw it, we could just let dumb governments keep throwing piles of money at this nonsense.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#572

Post by sailfast »

asiachick wrote: post #268
_nkl1 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think when this all comes to an end, China will be one of the countries that dealt with the virus the best. Countries without authoritarian governments likely don't have the means to effectively quarantine major cities and shut down massive portions of their economy immediately without major problems arising. Given a couple weeks, sure, but by then it will be too late. It may well seem that way in retrospect. Whe…

Do you really think it will be any different in the USA or Europe? Will the governments ban conventions? Close restaurants and bars? Shut down shopping malls? Or will instead, in the interest of "the economy" (ie, money) keep too light a hand on things. Basically I don't expect the west to be able to react to this any better if it gets big. Their populations are uncontrollable (for mostly good reason) but in this par…

Did it ever occur to you that if there is open / reliable information about the disease people might choose not to go out and/or engage in these conferences? The whole reason all of these cancellations are happening in the first place (MWC, etc) is because rational actors have decided (without government intervention and even with incomplete information) that the risks are too great.

Honestly my main concern in the United States is the complete and utter panic that will be caused by something that is only marginally less dangerous than getting in one's car to go to work each morning.

A government concerned with "not screwing up" can at times take drastic "emergency" measures with an overly cautious basis (at best) and with malintent (at worst), and we should be skeptical and continue to push for reasons for any actions. I don't see how this turns out to be a bug. They can have more impact on peoples actions with a press conference presenting skewed data than with any sort of attempt at straight-up bans or enforced quarantines.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#573

Post by refurb »

rogy wrote: post #277
dahdum wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m in Tokyo and having a very different experience than you, nearly everyone on the trains are wearing masks and all customer facing staff I see now. Someone hit the emergency button on the train a few days ago because someone was coughing without one (there was a PSA asking people not to do that). It’s mostly foreigners I see walking around without masks now, but I agree it’s still ramping up. I honestly don’t see…

on a side note, i have a week of PTO booked in tokyo then a week in kyoto/osaka, leaving friday. do you think its safe to travel?

I just got back from a trip to Asia 2 weeks ago.

Be prepared for travel disruptions. My connecting flight was canceled when my destination country decided no more flights from not only China, but a few surrounding countries.

Had to buy alternative tickets last minute to take a detour and get where I wanted to go.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#574

Post by throwaway-571 »

rococode wrote: post #46

I've been checking for updates on the virus several times a day since it first started being reported in Western media around Jan 20 (in part because it's been a fun distraction, in part because I have friends in Wuhan). I like to think I'm generally an optimist, but I think it's been clear for several weeks now that this is going to have a significant worldwide impact. There are just too many factors in favor of unc…

« I think when this all comes to an end, China will be one of the countries that dealt with the virus the best. Countries without authoritarian governments likely don't have the means to effectively quarantine major cities and shut down massive portions of their economy immediately without major problems arising.» I sure hope the rest of the world can do better than kidnap or wall in people until they’re dead or healed.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#575

Post by aphextron »

This is just typical "will it happen or won't it" pre-Olympics FUD. It's a perennial clickbait theme that always works.

http://aroundtherings.com/site/A__74354/Title__IOC-Chief-Can...

https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-02-04/should-the-201...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/shortcuts/2012/jun/12/coul...

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#576

Post by samstave »

My brother and his group of friends are all going to coachella and are talking about concerns with coronavirus, as its heavily visited by international goers.

Apparently in the past, a huge herpes outbreak occurred, so its a good litmus for massive spread of something.

Wonder if events like this will also be cancelled.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#578

Post by blhack »

Ive been somewhat surprised at the coverage or lack thereof that this story has been getting on HN.

This virus is disrupting manufacturing from China in a major way. It seems like one of the biggest tech stories of the last decade at least, and for some reason the stories about it seem to drop off of the front page really quickly.

Are people flagging these or something for not being tech? Any of my network who does manufacturing is pretty concerned right now about supply chain.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#579

Post by samstave »

_nkl1 wrote: post #156
rococode wrote: post #46

I've been checking for updates on the virus several times a day since it first started being reported in Western media around Jan 20 (in part because it's been a fun distraction, in part because I have friends in Wuhan). I like to think I'm generally an optimist, but I think it's been clear for several weeks now that this is going to have a significant worldwide impact. There are just too many factors in favor of unc…

> I think when this all comes to an end, China will be one of the countries that dealt with the virus the best. Countries without authoritarian governments likely don't have the means to effectively quarantine major cities and shut down massive portions of their economy immediately without major problems arising. Given a couple weeks, sure, but by then it will be too late. It may well seem that way in retrospect. Whe…

And welded people into their apartments so they couldnt leave no matter what, regardless of if they had it or not.

Re: Tokyo Olympics “looking at a cancellation” if coronavirus not contained

#580

Post by trengorilla »

scient wrote: post #515
netheril96 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

COVID-19 is unlike anything before (in modern times). Especially HIV. You don't catch HIV by boarding the subway, eating in a restaurant, or running a marathon. For most people, avoiding unsafe sex is enough to avoid HIV. But if COVID-19 spreads to their country, people's daily lives will be significantly disrupted. SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika are a little more like COVID-19, except they never propagate that far.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but its also nowhere as mortal or serious as these others you are listing.

9% of resolved cases have ended in death. It's pretty serious.
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