A tugboat moves a Paralympic Symbol installed for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Odaiba Marine Park on Aug. 20, 2021, in Tokyo. (Yuichi Yamazaki/Pool Photo via AP)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Flame-lighting events for the Paralympic torch relay's Tokyo segment began across the host city Friday, as worries about the coronavirus' spread remain ahead of the world's biggest sporting event for athletes with impairments.

       Numerous programs related to the Paralympics have been organized in an effort to build excitement for the games, which will begin Tuesday following a one-year postponement. But the relay has been taken off public roads on most of its routes due to an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo and other parts of Japan.

       The flames for the Paralympics, ignited in municipalities across the country, will be merged into one in Tokyo on Friday night.

       The relay was originally set to take place in Tokyo and three prefectures, Chiba, Saitama and Shizuoka, which will host Paralympic competitions, but most of the events have been put behind closed doors with so-called torch kiss ceremonies replacing the traditional festivities.

       The flames ignited in Tokyo will be first united at a ceremony around Friday noon in front of the metropolitan government building.

       The Paralympics, involving up to about 4,400 athletes from around the world, will be staged without spectators due to the pandemic. But an exception will made for some students taking part in a government-backed education program in Tokyo and the three prefectures.

       The Tokyo Olympics, which wrapped up on Aug. 8, were also held mostly behind closed doors. COVID-19 case numbers in the host city have been hitting record highs since the start of the games late last month.

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