THE 2020 Paralympic Games kicked off in Tokyo with the opening ceremony yesterday as Japan struggles with its worst COVID-19 outbreak so far, record daily cases and an overwhelmed medical system. A total of 162 delegations attended the Tokyo Paralympic Games, organizers confirmed. Tokyo 2020 said in a statement that the number of attending delegations exceeded Rio 2016, when 159 competed. The Refugee Paralympic Team will compete for the second time while five nations are making their Games debut. They are Bhutan, Grenada, Maldives, Paraguay, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The 2012 London Paralympics retains an attendance record of 164. International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons was overjoyed with the positive message for the Games held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “To have 162 NPCs [national Paralympic committee] compete in Tokyo makes me extremely proud,” he said. “The last 18 months have been the most challenging yet for everyone involved in the Paralympic Movement. “We do understand of course the rise in the numbers of cases in Tokyo, in Japan, but we do not believe that there is cause-effect relationship between the fact that we are here for the Paralympics and the numbers rising in Japan,” said Parsons. “One of the questions I am asked very often is, ‘can we have safe Games?’ and the answer is yes, we would not be here if we did not believe we could deliver safe Games,” the IPC president assured. The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee (TOCOG) president Seiko Hashimoto also made clear that strict epidemic control and prevention measures will be implemented. “We will be taking further measures for the Paralympics in addition to what we did for the Olympics,” Hashimoto said. “For example, the testing system will be reinforced. Stakeholders from overseas will be asked to stick to the same rules even after their 14 days [quarantine] have passed.” “We need stringent anti-COVID measures. We need to protect the athletes and the stakeholders from COVID-19. That is the top priority toward a successful Paralympic Games.” While the number of athletes and officials traveling from abroad is less than a third of that during the Olympics, Japan reported more than 25,000 daily cases on three days last week, up from less than 15,000 when the Olympics ended earlier this month. Organizers of the Paralympics, which will take place between yesterday and Sept. 5, have said they plan to implement the same COVID-19 protocols as the ones used during the Olympics.(SD-Xinhua) | 