Organizers hope to have attending spectators for the Tokyo Paralympics

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Logo of the Tokyo Paralympics. /CFP

Tokyo Olympic organizers are hoping that there can be spectators in attendance at the Tokyo Paralympics which will take place between August 24 and September 5, reported the Associated Press on Friday.

Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, said on Friday that decision over spectator attendance of the Paralympics will be made after the Olympics end on August 8.

The Olympic Games already said goodbye to attendees in Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama and Hokkaido because of recent surge of COVID-19 infections in Japan and extended state of emergency in Tokyo.

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), called it a "really difficult" but "necessary" decision to reject spectators for the Olympic Games. "We all regret the consequences for you the athletes but also for the spectators," said Bach.

"I hope we all agree that the most important thing is that the Olympic Games are happening. It will be under very different circumstances but you need not to feel alone in these stadia," Bach said. "Billions of people in the entire world will be glued to their screens. I hope you can feel this support," added the IOC chief.

Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, attends a press conference in Tokyo, Japan, July 9, 2021. /CFP

Tokyo on Friday reported 822 new coronavirus infection cases, the 20th straight day that the number was higher than the seven days prior. The vaccination rate of the country's population, according to prime minister's office on Friday, was 16.8 percent.

A Lithuanian swimmer, who tested negative for COVID-19 upon arrival in Tokyo on Wednesday, tested positive after traveling to a pre-Olympic training camp at Hiratsuka near Tokyo.

There are about 11,000 athletes from all over the world coming to Japan to participate in the Olympics and some 5,000 for the Paralympics.

(With inputs from the Associated Press)