Globalisation, the advent of the internet, and new forms of travel have connected the world in previously unprecedented ways over the last 100 years.

We’re so used to this connectivity, that the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, and the ensuing travel bans and border closures threw us a bit.

Most events, especially those that attract large crowds, have been cancelled.

In light of this, it has been suggested that the upcoming Olympic Games in Japan should be postponed.

According to The Guardian, the Deputy Prime Minister of Japan, Taro Aso, has declared that the Olympics is cursed.

Japan had planned to host the summer and winter Olympics in 1940, but the second world war forced the cancellation of both Games.

Forty years later, many countries, including the US, China and Japan, boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest at the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

“It’s a problem that’s happened every 40 years – it’s the cursed Olympics, and that’s a fact,” Aso said.

The International Olympic Committee and Japanese representatives are still insisting that the games go ahead as planned, even after it was revealed that the head of the organising committee, Yoshiro Mori, had a meeting with a senior official who has subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. Mori refuses to get tested.

“Mori, who is 82 and has lung cancer, has not shown symptoms and does not meet the requirements for a test, an official from his office told Reuters.

About 60 people attended the meeting, with Mori seated about 10 metres away from Tashima on the opposite side of the table, according to Jun Kusumoto, a spokesman for the Rugby World Cup organising committee. Health authorities have contacted other attendees who are thought to be at risk”.

Mori visits a doctor at a Japanese hospital three times a week for his dialysis and is confident that his health advisor would pick up any COVID-19 symptoms if they presented themselves.

While Aso is adamant that a curse is affecting the country’s ability to hold the Olympics, he also admitted that it would not make sense to hold the games this coming summer if international athletes were unable to attend.

Without sports to keep the masses entertained, we’ll have to stick to safe, home-based activities like playing board games with our pets or watching live streams of music shows, online.

We’ll take all the entertainment we can get at this point.

[source:theguardian]