U.S. issues travel warning to Japan for 2021 summer Olympics

The United States health department has issued a strong warning against travel to Japan this summer for the 2021 summer Olympics.

Last year, the summer games were postponed due to the COVID outbreak, now, a year later, and the United States is urging people not to go. According to reports, another outbreak recently is causing increased numbers in and around Tokyo.

While the U.S. has issued these warnings, it does not detail whether these issued notices will keep or are intended for U.S. athletes or those traveling to watch the games live. It would make sense to keep a lid on out-of-country visitors into Japan given the fact that many countries are still seeing increasing numbers of COVID cases. In India, the devastation to the population is unfathomable.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention said “Travelers should avoid all travel to Japan”. 

The State Department, according to the article referenced above, raised the travel alert from Level 3 to Level 4. The difference? 3 is “reconsider travel” and 4 is “Do not Travel”.

Japan is not one of the current leaders in vaccinations but the USOC, United States Olympic Committee is still planning on sending athletes, for now anyway.

The Olympics are not scheduled until Friday, July 23rd and 16 days later on August 8th will come to a conclusion. There is plenty of time for things to change but if you are one of those planning to attend or hoping to attend, make sure your travel reservations are refundable. As much as we would like to think things change for the better, 2020 taught us nothing if to realize that more often than not, they don’t.