Tokyo Paralympics to be held mostly without spectators as COVID-19 cases rise

The Tokyo Paralympics will be held mostly without spectators due to an alarming rise in coronavirus infections in Tokyo and other parts of Japan, an official close to the planning said Monday.

The official said the policy was confirmed at a meeting of local governments involved in the Paralympics, which will begin Aug. 24.

Organizers agreed to bar general spectators at venues in Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Saitama and Chiba during the Paralympics, the official said.

The Tokyo Organising Committee, the central government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the International Paralympic Committee were set to hold a meeting Monday evening to formally decide on the policy.

A decision on the Paralympics had been pushed back until the last minute to monitor how the infection situation in Japan develops.

Tokyo has been under a COVID-19 state of emergency since July 12 due to an increase in cases triggered by the highly contagious delta variant. It has reported record numbers of daily infections in recent weeks, with the daily tally hitting 5,773 on Friday, nearly triple the figure logged before the start of the Olympics on July 23.

The Paralympics are expected to involve about 4,400 athletes from nearly 160 countries, but an IPC official said Monday that Afghanistan is likely to give up on participating after the Afghan government collapsed on Sunday and the Taliban took control of the country.

The organizers of the Paralympics were considering allowing up to 5,000 fans into venues in Shizuoka Prefecture, which will host cycling events, as long as the figure would not exceed 50% of a venue’s capacity, according to officials.

But it is now uncertain as the governor of Shizuoka on Monday requested that the central government include the prefecture under the current state of emergency, citing a strain on the prefecture’s medical system due to surging COVID-19 cases.

Still, students from local schools may be allowed to watch Paralympic competitions at venues as an exception as part of a government-backed education program, according to the officials.