Since Rio de Janeiro was awarded the Olympics in 2009, there has been a steady stream of bad news and dark predictions. And tourists who are going to attend the games are still exposed to the risks of the contaminated waters.
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Reporter Paul Ryan is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Thursday morning where there’s been plenty of concern leading up to the games.
“In Guanabara Bay, you have four tests per day, which all show the bay is according to the World Health Organization standards”.
Researchers have found that numerous beaches in Rio de Janeiro have been long contaminated with raw sewage, household garbage, and even dead bodies. Debris in the bay includes large furniture and plenty of plastic bags.
Erik Heil blamed water pollution for a skin infection suffered while training with Germany’s team, although it was not confirmed whether the water had been the cause.
While local authorities, including Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, have acknowledged the failure of the city’s water clean-up efforts, calling it a “lost chance” and a “shame”, Olympic officials continue to insist Rio’s waterways will be safe for athletes and visitors. Andrada says: “We could and should have done a little better”.
However the Rio organising committee says new tests show a reduced levels of pollution. Outdoor athletes are about to hold their breaths and dive head first into a pool of consequences.
“If you have the low tide, rain and wind inside to outside Guanabara Bay, then we have a big problem”.
“He added that although he had been born in the city, he would ‘never swim in this water”, branding it “dangerous”.
Dr. Fernando Spilki, a virologist and coordinator of the molecular microbiology laboratory at Feevale University in southern Brazil, who AP commissioned to conduct the water tests, said the research shows that Brazil has made no real improvement to its waters – despite promises which have spanned decades.
Nearly 13 million people live around the bay in Rio, and the current sewage system can struggle to cope.
As they had advance warning due to the initial results, athletes have been accounting for the Rio Olympics conditions by taking extreme precautions to avoid getting sick.
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Despite a project aimed at preventing raw sewage from flowing directly into the Gloria Marina through storm drains, the waters remain just as contaminated. Rio’s attempts to clean up the water fell well short, and the AP has found that the athletes and tourists who will be swimming in the water will do so among a high concentration of pathogens.
