The government and the Tokyo Paralympics organizing committee intend to hold events without spectators in Tokyo, Chiba and Saitama prefectures, which are under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
According to several government sources, a maximum of 5,000 spectators is being considered for Paralympic venues in Shizuoka Prefecture, where emergency-level priority measures remain in place.
However, arrangements are reportedly being made to accommodate groups of children and students to watch at all competition venues.
Representatives from the central government and the Tokyo Paralympics organizing committee are scheduled to hold a meeting Monday with officials from the Tokyo metropolitan government and the International Paralympic Committee, where a decision on spectators will be made, according to the sources.
The Paralympics are scheduled to start on Aug. 24. All events will be held at venues in Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama and Shizuoka prefectures.
Current government guidelines permit up to 5,000 spectators at events held in areas under a state of emergency or emergency-level priority measures. However, the recent surge in coronavirus cases, especially in and around the Tokyo metropolitan area, has increasingly thrown Paralympics spectatorship into question.
"Unless the situation improves significantly, having spectators at venues in the Tokyo area will be extremely difficult," said a senior government official.
-- Children an exception
A program under which children and students will be permitted to attend Paralympic events is likely to go ahead under certain conditions, including watching matches only in their own prefecture.
"The educational significance of realizing a more inclusive society would be huge," a senior official of the organizing committee told The Yomiuri Shimbun.
However, participation in the program would not be compulsory. The final decision on whether students take part will be left to school officials, including local authorities.
A similar program enabled children in Miyagi, Ibaraki and Shizuoka prefectures to attend events during the Tokyo Olympics, which finished Sunday. The program was shelved in other prefectures that hosted Olympic events.
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