Tokyo placed under tighter coronavirus rules for at least a month – almost 100 days before Olympics

Tokyo has been placed under tighter coronavirus restrictions for at least a month – almost 100 days before the Olympics are due to begin.

The host city of the Games has seen a surge of new cases and more contagious variants since the state of emergency was lifted there nearly three weeks ago.

That has prompted the Japanese government to take action by raising the Covid alert level in Tokyo and enforcing new ‘quasi-emergency’ measures.

The new rules will last until May 11 at the earliest and will likely see bars and restaurants ordered to close at 8pm and the public urged to avoid non-essential travel outside of the city.

The rise of cases is a huge concern ahead of the Olympics, which will celebrate the 100 days to go milestone on Wednesday.

Japan’s national vaccination drive has lagged and most people in the capital have still not been inoculated as infections have surged. 

Osaka has declared a medical emergency after its hospitals became overwhelmed with new cases and has moved next week’s Olympic torch relay there off public roads. 

Tokyo has seen a surge of new cases and more contagious variants and action has been taken

The rise of cases is a huge concern ahead of the Olympics, which will celebrate the 100 days to go milestone on Wednesday

Just over one million people in Japan, or less than 1% of the population, have received the first of two vaccine doses, and the surge in cases may cause further cancellations of Olympic-related events. 

Inoculations started in mid-February for medical workers.

Elderly people are scheduled to get their shots starting next week through until late June.

The rest of the population is likely to have to wait until about July, making it almost impossible for Japan to reach so-called herd immunity before the Tokyo Olympics begin on July 23.