Top Japanese officials said on Tuesday they did not expect a U.S. advisory against travel to Japan amid worries about the coronavirus to affect the Tokyo Olympics – less than two months away – and that U.S. support for the Games was unchanged.
The U.S. State Department’s “Do Not Travel” advisory and guidance for Japan on Monday did not mention the Olympics specifically but warned against visiting the country now.
“At present, we can see no particular impact,” Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa told a news conference. She noted that the advisory did not ban essential travel and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee had said planned mitigation practices would allow for safe participation of Team USA athletes.
Top Japanese and Olympic officials have pledged the Games will go ahead as planned on July 23 after being postponed in 2020, even as surveys show a majority of Japanese want the Games cancelled or postponed due to worries over coronavirus.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Japan was in close contact with the U.S. government.
“There is absolutely no change in the United States’ support for Japan’s decision to hold the Olympics, we believe,” Kato said.
In its new guidance, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said travellers should avoid all travel to Japan.
“Because of the current situation in Japan even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants,” it said.
Australia has also advised against travel to Japan due to health risks from COVID-19 and disruptions to global travel.
Japan has avoided the large-scale infections suffered by many other nations, but a fourth wave has triggered states of emergency in Tokyo, the western metropolis of Osaka and other localities across the nation.
The government was leaning towards extending the emergency status – set to end on May 31 in most regions, including Tokyo, several sources with knowledge of the decision told Reuters.
Japan’s slow vaccination roll-out has increased concerns.
The country has delivered vaccinations to just under 5% of its population, the slowest among the world’s larger, rich countries, and has recorded 715,940 infections and 12,308 deaths from the virus.
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, which oversees Team USA, said in a statement to Reuters that it has been made aware of the updated State Department advisory on Japan.
“We feel confident that the current mitigation practices in place for athletes and staff by both the USOPC and the Tokyo Organizing 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 statement said.
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Toshihiro Nikai also said he saw no direct impact on the Olympics from the U.S. travel advisory but added that there were important practical issues that remained to be resolved.
International spectators will not be allowed to enter Japan to attend the Games but a decision has yet to be made on domestic spectators.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies and Sakura Murakami; writing by Linda Sieg; editing by Richard Pullin)
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
