AKB48 Idols Cancel All Early August Events After 7 Members Get COVID

After a forced hiatus from full-scale live events last year, girl group sensation AKB48 was ready to take over this August. But unfortunately, the COVID-19 virus has ruined their plans once again.

The group had an irregular schedule ever since they resumed live performances with a 27 person audience cap, back in September. They were just about to restart their “normal” concerts by the end of August, but that will have to wait now.

Idol group AKB48 has canceled all the live concerts and guest appearances from 2nd to 9th August 2021. The official blog announced the cancelation after seven members of the group contracted the COVID-19 virus.

Report on the activities of AKB48 members who declined to appear in the event and canceled the performance/concert: We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your continued support. …

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Members Maho Omori, Nagisa Sakaguchi, Serika Nagano, and Yuka Suzuki were diagnosed on 31st July, while Sorano Uemi, Narumi Kuranō, and Remi Tokunaga were diagnosed the next day.

AKB48 Idols Cancel All Early August Events After 7 Members Get COVID
Maho Omori, Nagisa Sakaguchi, Serika Nagano, Yuka Suzuki, Sorano Uemi, Narumi Kuranō, Remi Tokunaga | Source: Fandom

The managers have told all the other members of the group to self-isolate for now. The renewed performance schedule will come out on 8th August 2021.

This isn’t the first spread of the virus among the group. Kayako Takita, another member got infected on 19th July but managed to self-isolate in time and didn’t affect the group’s schedule. She is now recovered and will join the group next week.

The management and the idol group had undergone some major changes in 2019. With several cafes and merchandise shop closings, the group had changed its management structures to individual companies operating sister groups. So, the pandemic took a heavy toll on the smaller sister groups.

The group had previously launched their OUC48 project to keep up during the pandemic. Members performed regularly through video chat platforms in real-time, which would later be streamed on YouTube. In the light of recent events, a revamp wouldn’t be a surprise.

I wish all the members of the group a speedy recovery.

Source: AKB48 Official Blog

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