Up to 30 people hit by virus outbreak at London World Championships hotel
The World Athletics Championships in London have been hit by an outbreak of gastroenteritis as visiting athletes and staff have been laid low by stomach upsets, with the number reaching up to 30 according to Public Health England.
Organizers ordered a quarantine on one floor of The Tower Hotel, which serves as an official team hotel, after a number of athletes were affected by stomach infections.
Public Health England has already announced that as many as 30 people associated with the World Championships, including athletes and support staff, have been struck by the virus, the BBC reported.
Public Health England: 30 people associated with the World Championships (athletes and support staff) have been affected by the Norovirus
— Dan Roan (@danroan) August 8, 2017
The Tower Hotel says that the building itself was the source of the illness.
“We can confirm that regretfully a small number of our guests have been suffering from an illness. We have worked collaboratively with the EHO and IAAF to investigate the origins of the illness and can confirm that the hotel was not the source of the illness,” it said in a statement.
“We have followed strict hygiene protocol, ensuring that those affected are not in contact with other guests and all public areas have been thoroughly sanitized. We continue to liaise with the medical authorities and the IAAF to ensure the comfort of those guests affected and the health and wellbeing of all our guests remains a priority.”
The Championships' organizing committee said in an earlier statement: “There have been a number of cases of gastroenteritis reported by team members residing within one of the official team hotels for the world championships.
“Those affected have been supported by both team and LOC [Local Organizing Committee] medical staff, in addition we have been working with Public Health England to ensure the situation is managed and contained.”
Nineteen Russians are competing at the championships as neutrals, as the Russian national athletics federation (RusAF) was suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in November 2015 due to an ongoing doping scandal.
The official spokesperson of neutral athlete Elena Orlova told TASS that as many as 26 athletes have requested medical assistance, including those from Germany, Estonia and Ukraine.
It’s also known that Botswana's Isaac Makwala had to withdraw from the 200m heats because of illness.
The IAAF World Championships in London kicked off on August 4 and will continue until August 13.
