World's Oldest Person Withdraws From Tokyo Olympics Due To COVID-19 Concerns

World's oldest person: The world's oldest person is a 118-year-old Japanese woman named Kane Tanaka and she has pulled out from the Tokyo Olympics torch relay because of the rising number of COVID cases in Japan.

The confirmation of her withdrawal was given an official at her nursing home. Kane Tanaka, the Guinness World Records holder was supposed to take part in the torch relay of the games in southern Japan's Fukuoka. The event is going to take place on May 11. The officials on Wednesday said, “We received an email from her family which said she wanted to withdraw from the relay as she and her family were concerned about spreading the virus at the nursing home."

The torch relay of the Olympics started in March and have since been under the shadows of the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Japan. There have also been talked of lockdown extension in the country. Earlier, six people working with the torch relay tested positive for COVID-19. This makes the total number of COVID-19 positive cases just at the event reach eight.

According to Reuters, many celebrities have also pulled out from the event because of the COVID-19 concerns. The local newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Japanese government is planning to extend the emergency announced last month. Majorly three of the big cities in Japan Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo, have been reporting a high number of positive cases.  According to NHK, the hospital capacity for serious patients has been exceeded to 99 per cent.

Tokyo also reported 609 fresh cases of coronavirus infection on Tuesday and 65 of them are reportedly in serious condition. The possibility of extending the emergency has many in doubt if the Olympics games can take place on its predecided date, July 23. The Games were already postponed to July this year after the pandemic broke out in 2020.

A local newspaper in Japan reported that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will have a meeting with senior government ministers on Wednesday.

As per the rules of the current state of emergency in the country, restaurants, karaoke parlours, bars and places serving alcohol have been shut. Spectators have been banned from big sporting events, cinema halls and large department stores are also closed.