Brazil woos tourists to Olympic Games

In a text sent to The Nation by Brazilian Embassy in Bangkok, the minister said: "The country's healthcare system is duly prepared for this big moment, with preventive actions in place against the Aedes agegypti (mosquito that spreads the virus), 24/7 monitoring in the six cities hosting the games and trained professionals who are qualified to attend to emergencies".

He also added that the risks of the Zika virus are minimal, citing a study by the University of Cambridge that forecast less than one case of infection among the 500,000 tourists. He also cited World Health Organisation specialists corroborating on June 14 that the risk of propagation of the disease is very low. 

He furthered that during the games, Brazil would be in winter time when the disease spread rate was low. Meanwhile, 51 test events performed showed no case of infection. Since May 3, the Olympic torch has passed through more than 100 cities and not a single case has been reported.

"Protecting the health of Brazilians and tourists coming to this world event is a priority to the federal government, which has pledged to put into effect appropriate measures to protect peoples' health. I was recently in Geneva, Switzerland, and reaffirmed to the International Olympic Committee that we would never risk the health of athletes and tourists. Brazil is keeping all necessary care and measures so that the games are a historical milestone in sports. Therefore, come to the Olympic Games!"

Brazil expects to welcome athletes from around 200 countries and 500,000 international tourists to the games that will run from August 5 to August 21.