Eight new cases of coronavirus infection related to the Tokyo Paralympics reported
Eight new infection cases related to the Tokyo Paralympics were reported Sunday, none of which were athletes, the organizers said.
Category: Japan
Tokyo government plans shuttle buses to take schoolchildren to Paralympics events
The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to provide shuttle buses to ferry groups of schoolchildren to Tokyo Paralympics…By supplying an alternative to public transportation, the government aims to assuage concerns about the risk of infection with the novel coronavirus that have been raised by parents and municipalities over the school-viewing program planned for the Paralympic Games
Japan to give public employees paid leave for fertility treatment
An online survey, conducted in January and February, receiving responses from roughly 47,000 national public employees, showed 1.8 percent were undergoing fertility treatment while 10.1 percent said they have experience with it and 3.7 percent said they had considered it.
Among people who have experienced fertility treatment or were considering it, 62.5 percent said it was “very difficult” to balance it with work while 11.3 percent said it was “impossible,” the most common reasons being the need to make frequent visits to the doctor, cost and scheduling conflicts with work.
The National Personnel Authority’s new scheme aims to ease the burden by enabling full-time and part-time national public employees to take five days of paid leave, with five additional days available if necessary.
The time off can be broken up and used flexibly, such as by taking a few hours off to see the doctor during work, for example.
Increasing access to fertility treatment has been a focus for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who pushed for it to be covered by Japan’s public health insurance from next April.
The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 840,832 in 2020, with the recent downward trend exacerbated by the social and economic impact of COVID-19.
The total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman is expected to give birth to in her lifetime, stood at 1.34, down from the previous year by 0.02 point.
Staff and residents test positive for COVID at Sagamihara facility for the disabled, cluster confirmed
Twenty-eight new residents and six staff members were found to be positive at a support facility for people with disabilities in Midori Ward, Sagamihara City.
Refugee Paralympians aim to transform the lives of displaced and disabled people
One woman and five men with roots in Afghanistan, Burundi, Iran, and Syria will compete in athletics, swimming, canoe and taekwondo as members of the refugee team, which is headed by Chef de Mission Ileana Rodriguez, a former refugee from Cuba who represented the United States in swimming at the 2012 London Paralympics.
Paralympic head warns against complacency toward Tokyo’s COVID surge
“While it is encouraging that the Olympic Games were delivered safely and successfully, those attending the Paralympic Games should not get complacent,” Parsons said. “We cannot ignore the current case numbers in Japan and Tokyo, and I urge every single stakeholder for the Paralympic Games to be vigilant.”
Flame lighting events for Paralympic torch relay begin in Japan
Lighting events will take place over the next five days in 43 of Japan’s 47 prefectures that will not stage Paralympic competitions. The locations and lighting methods have been left up to each municipality, and the flames will be brought to Tokyo later this month.
Tokyo Paralympics Likely to Have No Spectators
The Tokyo Paralympics are highly likely to have no spectators in principle as the novel coronavirus continues to rage, especially in the Tokyo metropolitan area, now under a COVID-19 state of emergency.
Olympic rings in Tokyo removed, to be replaced with Paralympic logo
The giant floating rings monument on a concrete platform set up at Odaiba Marine Park will soon be replaced with the “Three Agitos” symbol for the Paralympics, scheduled to be held from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.
Paralympics torch relay in Tokyo taken off public roads over COVID concerns
The torch relay for the Tokyo Paralympics will be taken off public roads for Aug. 20-24 legs in the capital due to the current COVID-19 infection status, the metropolitan government said Tuesday.
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