Five days before the opening of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, as Japan faces record numbers of infections, organizers announced Thursday that a first case of Covid-19 had been identified in the Paralympic Village.
The person concerned is a staff member linked to the Games and does not reside in Japan, the organizers said without giving further details.
Organizers have so far reported 74 cases of the Paralympic-linked coronavirus, which are scheduled to take place from August 24 to September 5, mostly among employees and contractors residing in Japan.
Six other cases have been reported by local communities hosting Paralympic teams training before the Games.
No case had yet been reported at the Paralympic Village, open since Tuesday.
Extended and prolonged state of emergency in Japan
The organizers of the Olympics, which closed on August 8, felt they had succeeded in preventing a major spread of infections thanks to their strict health measures.
To date, 546 positive cases related to the Olympics have been identified, and some experts felt on the contrary that the holding of the Games was in contradiction with the government's message on the health situation and had contributed to the increase in infections in the country.
The daily cases of Covid-19, which continue to increase in the Archipelago, reached a new record on Wednesday with nearly 24,000 cases nationwide.
Faced with this new wave of infections that has affected the country since June, the state of emergency in force since July in part of Japan was extended Tuesday to 13 departments, including Tokyo, and extended until September 12.
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Covid 19
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Japan
Paralympic Games