How COVID Could Affect the Summer Olympics

The one-year-long COVID-delayed 2020 Summer Olympics are underway.

But most of the news about the Games is still more about the coronavirus than the competition. And because of the virus, no one will see the competition unless they watch the TV coverage because spectators are not allowed, the first time that has ever happened at the Olympics.

Japan’s Olympic organizers today, just hours before the opening ceremony, reported a record high number of new daily infections linked to the games, including three athletes, with the total number of cases at 110 and growing.

As the competition begins, the host city of Tokyo is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases, which prompted the government to declare a fourth state of emergency just this month. According to polls, a lot of the residents of Tokyo are not happy the Olympics are happening.

So no one knows for sure what will happen these next couple of weeks if more of the athletes test positive and some of the competitors can’t compete and some of the competition is cancelled.

The Olympic athletes, who have spent much of their lives, and endless hours and years training to compete, are usually the focus of all the attention but this time, the attention is about a virus that has infected and affected millions of people around the entire world. If they get through this, they will all be winners at these games.

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