An aerial view of the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, taken yesterday.
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One wonders what Bell or the Tupi would think of Guanabara today.
The waters off Rio de Janeiro have been declared safe for Olympic open-water swimmers, sailors and rowers, with new tests showing reduced levels of pollution.
Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting violently ill in water competitions, but the AP’s tests indicate that tourists also face potentially serious health risks on the golden beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana.
Water pollution in Guanabara Bay has been a problem for decades because of limited sanitation and sewage treatment facilities in Rio and the surrounding areas.
The sport’s events are taking place in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, where local microbiologist Renata Picão found unusually high levels of drug-resistant bacteria in several parts of the water in 2014.
As much as 70 percent of Rio’s sewage remains untreated, acknowledged Jorge Briard, president of Rio’s water utility. Samples have included drug-resistant super bacteria linked to the dumping of hospital waste.
But the cleanup efforts have fallen short of what was promised, and it isn’t clear how much raw sewage and risky microorganisms persist in the water.
“They promised too much”, said Mark Langevin, director of the Brazil Initiative at George Washington University.
Eduardo Paes said Rio’s sewage problems have been exaggerated. Eisenberg is chairman of epidemiology at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. And of course, they’re not always guaranteed to work.
A single gulp of ocean water, or roughly three teaspoons, is all it will take for athletes and tourists to contract potentially deadly diseases at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Doing so, Langevin said, would have given the clean-up efforts “more political punch”.
With the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games just days away, athletes from around the world are in the final stages of preparation. So, how many of them are going to get sick at the Olympics?
“We would never, ever risk the health or the condition of any athlete for a competition”, said Mario Andrada, chief spokesman for the local organizing committee. None of the above have commented yet on the Associated Press’ study.
The first results of the AP study published over a year ago showed viral levels at up to 1.7 million times what would be considered worrisome in the United States or Europe. While subsequent tests showed lower levels in some measures, the study continued to find alarming results.
Very high levels of adenoviruses (37 million per liter) were also detected at the Gloria Marina, where the sailing races will start off. After 16 months, nearly 90% of the test sites used found similar results. Also, it takes long enough to hit the system that athletes won’t have to worry about getting ill during their events.
Among Spilki’s more disturbing findings are that the water is loaded with rotavirus, which is associated with vomiting, diarrhea, and all-around misery.
“For sailing, we held two successful test events in August 2014 and August 2015 and a medical survey conducted by the global federation, World Sailing, found the event to be above average in terms of athlete health”.
Antibiotics cure bacterial infections, not viruses. Heil’s recovery included a painful procedure in which the infection was scraped from his hips and legs.
Athletes who have trained years for a chance at Olympic glory have resigned themselves to competing in the filth.
Still, many Olympic sailing and water sport athletes insist they are unconcerned about the potential dangers lurking in Guanabara Bay and other Olympic waters.
“We’ve been eight times to Rio”, said Briana Provancha, who will compete for the U.S.in the 470 sailing event. If you can’t avoid contact, limit it, shower frequently, and go to the doctor as soon as you’re home. We live in a country that has an economic crisis, a country with lots inequality.
Many others are focusing on what happens to Guanabara Bay and the rest of the Rio shoreline after the Olympics.
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Olympic organizers said emergency measures were in place if the water quality were to become unsafe at any time during the Games.
