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Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

straitstimes.com

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Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#111

Post by tomp »

monkeywork wrote: post #72
tomp wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain how improper use of masks can make things worse?

false sense of security - gives the person the impression they are protected and allows them to lower their guard in other area's that they might now if they weren't wearing it. edit To put it in tech terms ... someone poorly implementing a security / encryption method may be more dangerous than someone who didn't because the person who didn't may take additional steps that the person who falsely thinks they are prot…

Couldn't you say the same thing about every non-100%-certain method of protection?

Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#112

Post by iso1631 »

tomp wrote: post #63
paranoidrobot wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is repeated a lot, however just like most things - there's more nuance to it than just "wear masks". In most places, there's simply not enough masks to protect those most at risk (eg: healthcare workers who are constantly in contact with infected patients) AND to have everyone in the community using them. Improper use of masks is at best pointless, at worst can actually make things worse. The vast majority of pe…

Can you explain how improper use of masks can make things worse?

Imagine you have a mask, you take it off for some reason (say to eat or drink) and put it in your pocket, it gathers tons of bacteria, you then put it back on your face. The warm and moist environment lets that bacteria spread, and you sit there breathing in through that colony of bacteria for the next two hours.

Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#113

Post by summerlight »

freetime2 wrote: post #62
williamscales wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read yesterday that Japan had administered something like 16,000 COVID-19 tests in total. So I think they're basically not testing and hoping that it goes away.

I would be interested to read if you could share the source for the above. It’s true that Japan only seems to be testing people with serious symptoms at the moment. But we would expect hospitalizations and deaths to be higher if the number were really that high.

Japan actively avoids testing if those deaths are due to COVID-19. If someone recently dies with pneumonia, it's worth to test if this is the COVID-19 case. Japan doesn't and it claims that the public fear will overload and collapse their medical infrastructure. I don't really understand why this can even be the case, but this is a broadly accepted sentiment around Japan. And its annual death toll from typical pneumonia is around 100k, so Japan can easily hide it even if they had hundreds of the COVID-19 death cases by not testing it.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/03/24/national/tokyo-...

Meanwhile, Tokyo's governor is actively considering lock-down due to a potential explosive rise. Lock-down for a city like Tokyo (which has roughly one third of their entire GDP) is clearly a nuclear option. If you really have only hundreds of the cases, this can (and should) be handled by comprehensive testing and tracing like S. Korea. Or perhaps their confidential COVID-19 projection doesn't agree with Japan's official stats...

Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#114

Post by freepor »

jbay808 wrote: post #40
mhh__ wrote: post #21

Had to happen: If they tried to have it, there would have been no crowd and all the athletes would get it like wildfire (The Olympic Village has a lot of Tinder activity, at least). That doesn't even account for the sad reality that some athletes can't go due to the virus (already). At least three of the South Korean Fencing team (Very likely medal contenders) are confirmed positive, for example.

Wouldn't the fencing team have recovered fully by this summer?

At the Olympic level, missing multiple weeks of training in the ~year before competition probably eliminates you from medal contention.

Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#115

Post by tooltalk »

jakeinspace wrote: post #31
minitoar wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a global community we should come to and express the (IMO) correct conclusion that Japan did an amazing (perhaps the best) job of containing this, and it was still the right thing for them to postpone the 2020 olympics.

My understanding is that Japan didn't do the best job, although definitely better than the US. Taiwan probably has had the best Coronavirus response.

Not sure if Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam had to do much to prevent it in the first place. Their warmer climate seems to have slowed the spread.

South Korea's initial response was actually slow -- didn't restrict travel from China like many others did. The president declared a premature victory ("it would be over soon") and donated 2M face masks to China -- only to find the country in masks shortage the very following week. But their innovative testing efficiency (eg, drive-through, booth) and containment strategy set a good example for the world.

Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#116

Post by tooltalk »

jakeinspace wrote: post #103
Hamuko wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't Japan have a much higher case fatality rate than the US?

They also have a much older population. Maybe saying that they had a "much better" response than the US is too generous, certainly compared to their neighbors of similar means, Japan has been incredibly slow to act and test.

> ... Japan has been incredibly slow to act and test.

and it seems the Japanese public is quite angry over Abe's willful neglect to save the Olympics. Now that the Olympics is off the table (ie, postponed), Japan can stop pretending that everything is all sunshine and sunflower.

Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#117

Post by zentiggr »

BurningCycles wrote: post #57
cltsang wrote: post #18

We need to let Japan know that this is not their fault. It's ingrained in Japanese culture that they often put too much pressure on themselves. They might think if they had put extra 120% effort, the Olympics would have gone as scheduled. But this is not on them. Although it's only speculation, we wouldn't want another case of heartbreaking suicide[0] because of a Japanese blaming himself/herself too much. [0] https:…

Very anectdotal, but the three Japanese persons I know have told me that people in Japan are generally negative towards holding an Olympics and think it's just a waste of resources.

Except the ones running the companies being paid to support, construct, or provide concessions and services... follow the money.

Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#118

Post by ksec »

nottorp wrote: post #98
mhh__ wrote: post #21

Had to happen: If they tried to have it, there would have been no crowd and all the athletes would get it like wildfire (The Olympic Village has a lot of Tinder activity, at least). That doesn't even account for the sad reality that some athletes can't go due to the virus (already). At least three of the South Korean Fencing team (Very likely medal contenders) are confirmed positive, for example.

Call it greed. They should have canceled a month ago. Same for any other sporting events.

For an event that is not happening until July and cost more than ALL the other sporting event combined, I say it is not greed but sensible.

Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#119

Post by PopeDotNinja »

bdamm wrote: post #110
SilasX wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stupid question: Couldn't they still have held it, but athletes/coaches/refs only, no spectators present, and no competitions involving physical contact?

No: Athletes can't effectively train right now, and the coaches/refs/athletes would all spread the virus among themselves. Japan may or may not be able to deal with that, but who wants to go traveling abroad in the aftermath of a major global pandemic? Athletes also have family, grandparents etc that may be experiencing the virus themselves or the cause of a funeral. How psyched would those athletes be to participate…

It would be novel to see a bunch of flabby athletes trying to catch their breath during different events. Could add events like doing a cannonball into the pool, seeing who can jiggle their flab the longest, or anything else for which Homer Simpson would be a medal contender. Truth be told, they probably look more amazing as sedentary couch potatoes than I would in peak physical condition.

Re: Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

#120

Post by magduf »

trianglem wrote: post #95
magduf wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my opinion, it's rational (which surprises me that it would be "populist" since populist thinking is rarely rational). The Olympics really are a terrible waste of effort and resources for the host nation, and the host nation rarely, if ever, gets a positive return on it. Mostly, it seems only to serve to increase the prestige of some head-of-state, nothing more. In reality, it costs an enormous amount of money to…

The final goal of ever endeavor is not always profits.

Then what exactly is the goal? If you're not better off after doing something than before doing something, then why would you do it? Hosting the Olympics doesn't help a host nation in any measurable way that I've ever seen, though it does seem to increase the profits and prestige for some national leaders, the IOC, and of course other companies that stand to profit from the event as another poster here pointed out. I don't see how that helps the people of the nation at all.
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