Norovirus outbreak spreads to athletes in PyeongChang

Switzerland’s Fabian Bösch is one of two athletes in PyeongChang who has contracted norovirus. (Getty)
Switzerland’s Fabian Bösch is one of two athletes in PyeongChang who has contracted norovirus. (Getty)

Norovirus, which has run rampant among workers and security staff at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, has finally hit the Olympic Village.

Two Swiss skiers — Fabian Bösch and Elias Ambühl — have contracted the norovirus, the Swiss announced Friday, becoming the first confirmed cases among athletes at the games.

“Everyone else is safe,” a Swiss spokesperson told Reuters. “We did everything we could. We took them away from the rest of the team and now they have to recover.”

The norovirus infection can cause sudden onset of severe vomiting and diarrhea, and is highly contagious, per the Mayo Clinic. There have been over 200 confirmed cases of the virus in PyeongChang so far.

Bösch first made headlines on Monday when he found a new way to ride an escalator in PyeongChang.

Both he and Ambühl practiced on Friday away from other competitors. They are scheduled to compete in the slopestyle competition on Sunday morning.


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