Virus forces Canadian team to move athletes
Nine competitors and staff have fallen ill following Norwalk outbreak at hotel
LONDON— The biggest sporting events in the world bring together the best athletes and, unfortunately, some of the biggest bugs, too.
A viral outbreak, believed to be Norwalk, has settled into the central London hotel where the Canadian team is staying for the athletics world championships. Nine athletes and staff from Canada have become ill so far, team doctor Paddy McCluskey said Tuesday.
In total, an estimated 30 people from several teams — including Germany, Ireland and Botswana — who have been staying at the Tower Hotel have been affected.
“The last two days have been better for us in terms of new cases . . . so I’m really hopeful that we’re through the worst of it,” McCluskey said.
To be safe, Canadians who haven’t yet arrived — including four athletes in men’s race walk and women’s 5,000 metres — will be put up a different hotel and, where possible, athletes have been moved to higher floors at the Tower Hotel since it’s the lower floors that have been most affected.
“You always have to be really diligent about these kinds of things, maintain strict hand washing, and so we’re doing our best in that.”
Other ill athletes include Isaac Makwala, of Botswana, who pulled out of his 200-metre heat Monday night but said he had food poisoning, and Ireland’s Thomas Barr, who pulled out of 400-metre hurdles.
Tower Hotel issued a statement saying it has worked with public health and international track federations and that “the hotel was not the source.” McCluskey tends to agree.
“With all the infectious diseases, there are a number of possibilities for what is the source, but I think public health is pretty confident it’s not the food, or the water.
“I think the hotel would agree that there’s a number of people in the hotel that are affected,” he said, noth- ing there’s a difference between where the virus has settled and where it came from.
They may never find out where the virus came from and all they can do now is take every precaution to keep it from spreading.
“These kinds of outbreaks are not new or rare; it’s part of the game when you travel,” McCluskey said. “I’ve heard the Olympics described as the meeting of the best athletes in the world and the best bugs. Anytime you get people travelling from different continents and different countries and arriving in one place there’s always the possibility for this.”