Brazil’s federal police searched the offices of a construction consortium behind one of Rio de Janeiro’s main Olympic sites on Tuesday as part of a probe into potential fraud, the police said in a statement.
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“Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie announced Tuesday morning she’s pregnant and will be skipping the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro because of the Zika virus.
Zika is known to cause birth defects if contracted by pregnant women. WHO has rejected the call, saying the Games would not have a significant public health impact.
“One pregnant woman infected is too many”, Andrada told the news conference.
According to Rio’s health secretariat, the number of Zika cases has already declined significantly. “Athletes and tourists will be briefed before getting to Brazil and briefed once they get here on how to protect themselves”.
Cyclist Tejay van Garderen, as well as golfers Vijay Singh and Marc Leishman, have already pulled out of the Games due to risks associated with the virus.
Others have indicated they are yet to make a final decision on their participation. A string of athletes have also expressed concern, with some pulling out.
“I would say to any athlete, to any visitor planning on coming to Rio, you do not have to worry, Rio and Brazil have prepared for this moment”, the Sports Minister concluded.
“But we understand that protections can be achieved with information”.
Organisers did not believe Zika had affected Olympic ticket sales, which had, until recently, been slow, Andrada said. In rare cases, it can trigger the auto-immune disease Guillain-Barré syndrome, which causes temporary paralysis.
It’s also believed to be responsible for several thousand suspected cases of microcephaly, or abnormally small heads, identified in Brazilian babies since October past year.
He also pointed to data from the Rio state health secretariat on reported cases of the three major mosquito-borne illnesses seen in Brazil: dengue fever, Zika, and Chikungunya.
“Rio de Janeiro should be a very safe place”, said João Grangeiro, the medical officer.
The organizers argue the lack of infections during recent test events, from gymnastics competitions to track and field, show the areas most likely to be frequented by Olympics visitors differ from the dense, dirty and muggy conditions most favorable for contagion.
Last month, 150 health experts signed an open letter to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) urging the Games to be moved or delayed because of the outbreak.
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New research attempting to calculate the risk of the Zika virus at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro may reassure organisers and numerous more than 500,000 athletes and fans expected to travel to the epicenter of the epidemic.
