Cardboard beds made for Olympic athletes during the Tokyo games are being repurposed for Japanese COVID-19 patients amid the severe spike in cases on the island nation.
Some 18,000 beds were produced ahead of the 2021 Olympic games. Although a rumor was spread by athletes that the beds were made of cardboard to deter sex in the dorms, it was later debunked.
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“Beds to be installed in Tokyo Olympic Village will be made of cardboard, this is aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes,” Team U.S.A runner Paul Chelimo tweeted in July. “Beds will be able to withstand the weight of a single person to avoid situations beyond sports. I see no problem for distance runners, even 4 of us can do.”
Beds to be installed in Tokyo Olympic Village will be made of cardboard, this is aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes
Beds will be able to withstand the weight of a single person to avoid situations beyond sports.
I see no problem for distance runners,even 4 of us can do😂 pic.twitter.com/J45wlxgtSo
— Paul Chelimo🇺🇸🥈🥉🥉 (@Paulchelimo) July 17, 2021
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said he would like the beds to be used for COVID-19 patients in Japan. “Those beds were for Olympians, and they are high quality,” Yoshimura said.
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The beds were manufactured by the Japanese company Airweave and are 100% recyclable, the Japan Times reports. Roughly 800 of the beds are likely to be transferred to a temporary medical facility to be employed for medical use by the end of September. Airweave said it is willing to donate the beds.
Japan is currently reporting record numbers of COVID-19 cases, averaging almost 20,000 per day. The surge has prompted a state of emergency in Tokyo and 20 of Japan’s 47 prefectures.
