TOPLINE One person involved in the Tokyo Paralympics has been hospitalized with Covid-19, the games’ organizing committee announced on Thursday, an incident that takes place amid Japan’s worst surge in infections since the start of the pandemic which has severely strained its medical resources.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/08/6671facb7488-tokyo-paralympics-confirm-1st-covid-19-hospitalization.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According to</a>&nbsp;the games’ organizing committee, the hospitalized individual was a foreign individual but not an athlete.



The patient is not displaying severe symptoms, organizing committee spokesperson Masanori Takaya added.



The organizers also reported 15 new Covid-19 cases linked to the games, including two athletes residing in the Games village.



Since the start of the games on Tuesday, at least&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/26/paralympics-first-tokyo-games-participant-in-hospital-with-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">five Paralympians</a>&nbsp;have tested positive for Covid-19.



The event featuring over 4,400 athletes is taking place at a time when Japan witnesses its worst Covid-19 outbreak, fueled by the more infectious delta variant.



<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/08/6671facb7488-tokyo-paralympics-confirm-1st-covid-19-hospitalization.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According to</a>&nbsp;Kyodo News, health experts have warned that the country’s medical system is close to a breaking point with hospital beds becoming scarcer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



184. That’s the total number Covid-19 cases that have been linked to the Tokyo Paralympics since August 12,&nbsp;Kyodo News&nbsp;reports.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and the International Olympic Committee (IOC)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/japans-pm-olympics-have-not-caused-covid-19-spike/av-58788340" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">claimed</a>&nbsp;that the Olympic games, which ended earlier this month, did not aggravate Tokyo’s Covid outbreak. But health officials remained skeptical and tensions between them and the games’ organizers have remained high. The latest controversy has emerged around IOC chief Thomas Bach’s decision to fly back into Japan to attend the opening ceremony of the Paralympics. Bach, who left Japan on Wednesday night, was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/08/25/national/omi-bach-tokyo-return-criticism/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">criticized</a>&nbsp;by the country’s top Covid-19 advisor Shigeru Omi. Omi said Bach&#8217;s decision to briefly return to Japan ran counter to “common sense” as Covid infections continue to rise in the country. In response, the International Paralympic Committee said that Bach was invited by them to attend and his itinerary was approved by the Japanese government.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/08/6671facb7488-tokyo-paralympics-confirm-1st-covid-19-hospitalization.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tokyo Paralympics confirm 1st COVID-19 hospitalization</a>&nbsp;(Kyodo News)



<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/26/paralympics-first-tokyo-games-participant-in-hospital-with-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paralympics: first Tokyo Games participant in hospital with Covid-19</a> (The Guardian)



By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff

Paralympics – Opening Ceremony

Tokyo Paralympics Reports First Covid-19 Hospitalization

Oscar Pistorius, the South African Paralympic running champion and global icon, became an incarcerated man on a balmy day in late October. Long before the presiding judge, Thokozile Masipa, handed down her sentence, crowds formed in the jacaranda-lined street outside Pretoria’s North Gauteng High Court.
As Judge Masipa’s voice wafted to the street from live TV feeds outside the court, she reminded everyone that ‘sentencing is about achieving the right balance’. With these words, discontent grew. Many feared that they were not going to get their pound of flesh.
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Then the verdict: Pistorius was handed a three-year suspended sentence for discharging a firearm in a restaurant concurrently with a five-year custodial sentence for manslaughter. Legal experts claim that he must serve at least a sixth of his sentence to be eligible for parole. This means he could spend just 10 months behind bars followed by correctional supervision in the form of house arrest.
Golden Miles Bhudu, an activist from the South African Prisoners’ Organisation for Human Rights, was livid as the sentence was announced. He had been put behind bars, he says, for six years for a furniture warehouse robbery in the late 1980s. He explained the sentence to a pair of French tourists who looked confused.
“It is the first time in all these years for culpable homicide you get correctional supervision&#8230; he’s a rich man!”
Cries of injustice came in a score of tongues outside the courthouse. A placard lent silent support to Bhudu, “Are certain offenders more equal than others in the eyes of the law?”
Nathaniel Joy, a Ghanaian on his lunch break, chimed in.
“He’s a super-rich person and even the victim is from a poor part [of the country]. I can see now its politics!”
The South African justice system also came under fire.
“I think it’s weak, it can be manipulated with money,” says the young man as his friend nods in agreement.
Not everyone was of the same mind. Simphiwe Rabede, a government worker from Pretoria, thought that justice was done.
“I think it was a fair judgement after all the deliberation and the arguments presented in court, despite the public perception, it was a fair judgement.”
Sitting nearby, a lawyer on another matter with long blonde hair, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed.
“I think Judge Masipa gave a fair sentence in the eyes of the law,” she says.
A little over an hour after the sentence was passed, Arnold Pistorius, the uncle representing the family, spoke.
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“The court has handed down its judgement and we accept this judgement,” he told an army of journalists outside the High Court Chambers. He appealed to the public to do the same.
Minutes before, an armored police van battled through a crowd of activists, onlookers and journalists as it made its way to the nearby Kgosi Mampuru II prison where Pistorius is serving his custodial sentence for the culpable homicide of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
After a month of speculation, prosecutors announced that they will appeal Judge Masipa’s decision, claiming that the sentence was ‘shockingly light’.

21/10/14:  The Day Oscar Went to Prison

On the second day of the trial, set to last three weeks, the heavy and cold rain over Pretoria’s Gauteng North High Court, didn’t stop the army of journalists from tussling for a glimpse of the accused outside the court.
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The 27-year-old Paralympic athlete was charged with the murder of his 29-year-old girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s day last year. He is out on R1 million ($93,000) bail.
In the tangle of stepladders and tripods there was shoving and anger. Even passing school children and shop workers pushed into the fray.
This is the media frenzy and fuss around Pistorius’ trial. Bernard Hotz, the director and head of the business crimes and forensics practice at Werksmans Attorneys, is one lawyer uncomfortable with it.
“Remember, the person who is on trial here is Oscar Pistorius not the judiciary system. I personally feel that it is problematic for the media to be involved in the way they are. In terms of the bill of rights, the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” says Hotz.
The attorney adds that there’s too much speculation and analysis happening after each word uttered by witnesses, that could hamper the work of the courts.
“If you walk in the street and ask anybody ‘so did he do it or didn’t he do it?’ Most of the people may say he did it, he should go to jail. Whether or not that is right, it can only be decided upon by the judge after hearing all the evidence and applying law,” says Hotz.
But Hotz says he believes the presiding judge, Thokozile Masipa, is strong enough to control the trial.
Masipa, who was once a crime reporter, was stern in court. She warned journalists that if they don’t behave they won’t be treated with soft gloves. This follows the publishing of a picture of a witness, transgressing the conditions of the court.
“You’re dealing with human psychology, if you watch the television, everybody in the court is playing to the audience. That for me runs contrary to our court system in South Africa, bearing in mind we don’t have a jury system here, it’s about presenting evidence to the judge who must decide the case based on the evidence and the law,” says Hotz.
Guilty or innocent, Pistorius will dig deep for this trial.
“Quiet easily, the total cost of the trial, including the year’s preparations, could be anywhere between R6 million ($559,000) and R8 million ($745,000),” says Hotz.
Hotz, senior litigation attorney with 21 years of law experience, says his hourly rate is R3,750 ($350) and R37,500 ($3,500) per day.
“If you take me as an attorney, with my team dealing with a complex civil litigation matter, the cost would be in the same region. Unfortunately, the cost of litigation, not only in South Africa but throughout the world, is exceptionally expensive.”
Pistorius can negotiate a package deal of R100,000 ($9,300) a day for the three weeks of the trial. He could end up paying his legal team up to R2 million ($186,000) over this time.
The price of justice appears to come at a premium.

Tag: Paralympic athlete

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Tokyo Paralympics Reports First Covid-19 Hospitalization

21/10/14: The Day Oscar Went to Prison

The High Price Of Justice