Ceremonies for lighting the Paralympic torch have begun in Japan, with restrictions due to the pandemic. It is probable that the Paralympic Games (24 August-5 September) will mainly take place behind closed doors, as was the case for the Olympics.
According to the Japanese TV channel NTV, they will be held without spectators in Tokyo and its suburbs, with a few exceptions for competitions organized in the most remote departments. An official decision - reports Ntv - will have to be taken next Monday in a meeting of all the parties involved in organizing the event. Already during the Tokyo Olympics, which ended last Sunday, the public had been banned from almost all competitions.
The organizers of the Olympic and Paralympic Games have so far identified over 510 cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of July in Japan among the people involved in these events, out of tens of thousands accredited. The organizers themselves denied any link between the Games and the outbreak in Tokyo, although Japanese health experts estimated that the events had indirectly undermined local authorities' requests for caution.