At this moment hospital workers are exhausted; on top of this, they would find it difficult to help with the games.

Representatives from the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association said the city's hospitals are already overwhelmed as the country battles a spike in coronavirus infections less than three months from the start of the Games.

We strongly request that the authorities convince the IOC that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the games.

The blunt open letter was addressed to Japan's prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, amid a third state of emergency in Tokyo thanks to a jump in infections.

The number of covid-19 cases nationwide dropped to 3,680, but the number of heavy infections hit a record high of 1,235 the health ministry said.

Overall, Japan has avoided an explosive spread of the virus experienced by other nations, but the government has come under sharp criticism for its sluggish vaccination rollout.

Only about 3.5 percent of its population of around 126 million has been vaccinated, according to a Reuter's tracker.

Other health experts and medical groups have voiced their concerns about the Olympics while opinion polls and online petitions have found the majority of the Japanese public is opposed to the games going ahead.

They have to listen to the public.

Um, but they're not acting on it at the moment.

And we've seen the prime minister's approval ratings come down quite sharply.

So, it is something that will have an effect on the government when it comes, uh, round to the next election.