By Park Si-soo
Despite all the hygiene efforts, the authorities are finding it difficult to control an extremely contagious norovirus outbreak, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, in the host cities of the ongoing Winter Olympics.
As of Friday 4 p.m., 261 people were confirmed to have been infected with the virus in PyeongChang and Gangneung, and 44 have been quarantined, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Two hundred seventeen have recovered from the bug, it said.
Among the patients were two Swiss freestyle ski athletes and South Korean skeleton champion Yun Sung-bin. Details of the other patients were unknown.
Health information of participating athletes is publicized only when the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Korea and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agree to do so to ensure the health and safety of other athletes.
The biggest number of patients came from the Horeb Odaesan Youth Training Center in PyeongChang where 111 residents there, mostly volunteer workers for the Games, tested positive for the virus. There were 74 more people infected in PyeongChang. In Gangneung, another host city, 76 people tested positive for the virus.
The virus began spreading Feb. 3 among a group of security guards staying at the youth training center. Nervous organizers quarantined at least 1,200 Olympics staffers as a precaution and roughly 900 military personnel were deployed to help with the security shortage.
According to KCDC, there were 249 infectious disease outbreaks in the previous 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and 185 cases in the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Despite all the hygiene efforts, the authorities are finding it difficult to control an extremely contagious norovirus outbreak, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, in the host cities of the ongoing Winter Olympics.
As of Friday 4 p.m., 261 people were confirmed to have been infected with the virus in PyeongChang and Gangneung, and 44 have been quarantined, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Two hundred seventeen have recovered from the bug, it said.
Among the patients were two Swiss freestyle ski athletes and South Korean skeleton champion Yun Sung-bin. Details of the other patients were unknown.
Health information of participating athletes is publicized only when the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Korea and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agree to do so to ensure the health and safety of other athletes.
The biggest number of patients came from the Horeb Odaesan Youth Training Center in PyeongChang where 111 residents there, mostly volunteer workers for the Games, tested positive for the virus. There were 74 more people infected in PyeongChang. In Gangneung, another host city, 76 people tested positive for the virus.
The virus began spreading Feb. 3 among a group of security guards staying at the youth training center. Nervous organizers quarantined at least 1,200 Olympics staffers as a precaution and roughly 900 military personnel were deployed to help with the security shortage.
According to KCDC, there were 249 infectious disease outbreaks in the previous 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and 185 cases in the 2010 Vancouver Games.
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