COVID-19 is popular in Japan, 500,000 people participate in marathon

On February 15, Japan announced that the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic had begun to spread in Japan. Japan is also the country with the most confirmed cases in the world after the epidemic in China. At present, the source of infection in the Japanese cases has not been confirmed. However, Japan has once again started a nationwide marathon with 500,000 participants.

500,000 people start marathon in Japan

Many runners said that in the face of the current situation, it turns out that Japan’s marathon has not been cancelled. On February 16 alone, 500,000 people participated in Japan. What a big heart! In fact, Japan announced on February 15 that COVID-19 had actually begun to spread in Japan. There are currently as many as five confirmed cases in Japan that are not directly related to China, and the route of infection is not known.

It is against this background that Japan runs 12 marathons a day, with 500,000 participants. It is worth mentioning that at the Kumamoto Castle Marathon, in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, a large number of runners wore masks while running, which is indeed rare.

Marathon Epidemic Prevention

The epidemic has attracted great attention in Japan, after a trade show in the photography industry was announced to be cancelled. Despite the risks, all marathons were held as scheduled, but all measures to deal with the epidemic were in place. For example, in the Kyoto Marathon, everyone was provided with disinfectant when checking their results.

Previously, the Kyoto Marathon called on Chinese athletes to withdraw from the race. In yesterday's competition, only 28 out of 386 applicants living in China participated, with the withdrawal rate exceeding 90%.

Introduction to Japan Marathon Events

In addition, in addition to the more than 12 marathons starting today, the Tokyo Marathon originally scheduled for March 1, 2008 will also start as scheduled. The Tokyo Marathon, founded in 2007, is the youngest of the six majors in the world and the closest to China.

The Tokyo Marathon attracts more than 300,000 registrations every year, with a winning rate as low as about 8%. Previously, the Tokyo Marathon Organizing Committee had issued a notice to Chinese runners, saying that it called on Chinese runners to give up participating, and the organizing committee would provide a policy to extend quotas for runners living in China. There is no charge for the extension, and the registration fee will be waived in 2021.