The Tokyo Paralympics will be held without spectators due to an alarming rise in coronavirus infections in the host city and many other parts of Japan, organizers said Monday, about a week before the opening of the games.
The exception will be students participating in a government-backed education program, said the organizers, which also staged the recently concluded Olympics largely behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic.
International Paralympic Committee chief Andrew Parsons and representatives of Japan's organizing bodies decided at a meeting to apply the no-spectator policy to Tokyo and the prefectures of Chiba, Saitama, and Shizuoka, where all venues are located. They will also ask people not to gather along the roadside to watch outdoor events.
Tokyo Paralympic games will be held from Aug 24 to Sept 5.
