Government advisor sparks ire with tweet laughing off calls for Olympic cancellation

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that have been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, is seen through signboards, at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office building in Tokyo, Japan January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - A tweet by a top Japanese government advisor downplaying the pandemic and laughing off calls for the Olympics to be cancelled is drawing public ire a few days after Japan extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until the end of May.

Kaetsu University Professor Yoichi Takahashi likened the number of coronavirus cases in Japan to "a ripple," adding "so you're telling me people want to cancel the Olympics for this? lol lol."