Few fans at Paralympics

TOKYO • The Tokyo Paralympic Games will be held mostly without spectators, as the Japanese capital remains under its fourth state of emergency amid a surge in coronavirus infections, local media reported yesterday.

Since the July 23 start of the Olympics, the daily number of Covid-19 cases has more than doubled in Tokyo, driven by the more contagious Delta variant.

The daily count hit a record high of 5,042 on Aug 5 and Japan's cumulative total of infections topped one million last week.

Organisers agreed late on Thursday to limit spectators at the Paralympic events, set to begin on Aug 24, similar to the Olympic Games which finished on Aug 8 and was held mostly without spectators, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported, citing Games sources.

The ban extends to Saitama and Chiba prefectures, which both border Tokyo and are also under the state of emergency.

Only selected prefectures like Miyagi and Shizuoka hosted a restricted crowd at the Olympics and that will again be the case at the Paralympics.

Shizuoka, which will host the road and track cycling events, will limit spectators to under 5,000 people, the newspaper added.

Organisers are still considering inviting school children to events and there was no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment.

Japanese officials previously said they planned to make a decision after the Olympics, which despite the fears of many, did not turn into a super-spreader event due to the bubble conditions and strict countermeasures pertaining to athletes and others involved at the Games.

As of Wednesday, there were 511 Olympic-related Covid-19 cases, but just 29 athletes tested positive for the virus after arriving in Japan.

Paralympians are set to compete in 539 medal events in 22 sports, including track and field, judo, swimming, badminton and taekwondo - both are debuting - wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis, with the event closing on Sept 5.

Over 4,000 athletes with various impairments will be in Japan, including a 10-strong Singapore contingent. It will be the biggest Paralympics in history - 168 countries and regions are set to join, surpassing London 2012 (164).

Powerlifter Nur Aini Mohamad Yasli, equestrians Laurentia Tan, Gemma Foo and Maximillian Tan, cyclist Steve Tee Wee Leong, swimmers Yip Pin Xiu, Sophie Soon Jin Wen and Toh Wei Soong, shot-putter Muhammad Diroy and archer Nur Syahidah Alim will represent the country.

Despite the nationwide spike, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons is still confident organisers can pull off a safe Paralympics, using the Olympics as the blueprint.

"With the Olympics, Tokyo and Japan have shown the world that a major global sport event can be delivered safely, giving the world a much-needed morale boost," he said on the organisation's website.

"This can only give us confidence as we gear up for the Paralympic Games. I urge every single stakeholder to be vigilant and follow all measures outlined in the playbook...

"The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games have the potential to be a game-changer not just for Japan but the wider world, in particular the 1.2 billion persons with disabilities who make up 15 per cent of the global population."

REUTERS