: The Stakes for Tokyo’s COVID-19 Bubble Are Even Higher for the Paralympics. Can It Keep Vulnerable Athletes Safe? #WorldNEWS It began much like its bigger counterpart: fireworks, music and a parade

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The Stakes for Tokyo’s COVID-19 Bubble Are Even Higher for the Paralympics. Can It Keep Vulnerable Athletes Safe? #WorldNEWS
It began much like its bigger counterpart: fireworks, music and a parade of athletes waving to an empty National Stadium in Tokyo. But only two days after the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games, organizers confirmed the first hospitalization for COVID-19 of a person involved in the event. They said only that the patient was from overseas and not an athlete, but the news came as 184 people involved in the Paralympic Games have tested positive for the coronavirus. Ten athletes are among the confirmed cases.
Despite this, organizers insisted the world’s largest sports event for people with disabilities will be held safely. Tokyos COVID-19 bubble largely protected Olympic athletes and others associated with the Games—with some 500 reported cases and no major clusters out of the tens of thousands who traveled to Japan.
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But the stakes are even higher for the Paralympics, which come two and a half weeks after the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony. COVID-19 cases are now higher in Tokyo and across Japan, and the medical system has nearly reached a breaking point.
Some Paralympic athletes at higher risk

Ulrik Pedersen—NurPhoto/Getty IMagesIbrahim Elhusseiny Hamadtou during table tennis event at the Tokyo Paralympics in Japan on August 25, 2021.
Additionally, some Paralympic athletes may be at greater risk of COVID-19 complications due to respiratory or immune system issues or the need to use their mouths to grasp things. Egypt’s Ibrahim Hamadtou has turned heads by playing table tennis holding his paddle in his mouth. Some athletes competing in the sport of boccia, for instance, have decreased lung capacity due to cerebral palsy: Japan’s Takayuki Hirose, 36, has compared his breathing to someone in their 80s. In boccia, players compete by throwing balls as close as possible to a target ball.
Some prominent critics have called for the Paralympics to be canceled, fearing that they cannot operate safely under these conditions. In a letter to organizers and political leaders on Monday, Yasuhiko Funago and Eiko Kimura, two members of Japan’s legislature who use wheelchairs, demanded the Paralympics be stopped immediately and the medical system strengthened. Others echo their sentiments.
“I’m afraid that the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will send the message that medals are more important than life. While praising the medalists, there are daily reports of people dying without medical treatment,” says Kumiko Fujiwara of Tokyo-based DPI Womens Network Japan, an advocacy group for women with disabilities.
But those who work with athletes said they are prepared.

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