Rio Olympic village unsanitary, says Belarus team

The village is expected to house 18,000 athletes and support staff.

Paes apologized and acknowledged Australia’s “was the worst building”. Issues with plumbing and electricity were the primary complaint.

But out of as many as 500,000 travelers to Rio for the games, estimates state that at most 37 people are likely to contract Zika and return home while still contagious, said study co-author Gregg Gonsalves.

“The plans begun yesterday are working”, Andrada said.

Safety inspections continue at the Olympic Village in Rio.

Staying in air-conditioned and screened accommodation during the Games, as well as taking additional precautions, are seen as important reasons to why the threat is minimal.

The Italians have gone in another direction than the high profile complaining the Australians took.

“The system failed. Water came down walls, there was a strong smell of gas in some apartments and there was “shorting” in the electrical wiring”, Chiller said.

Sunday, July 24th, was meant to be the initial move in date for national teams into Rio’s Athletes Village.

“The mayor and I have a date on Wednesday and I believe there will be a ceremonial handing over of the keys”.

The mood of the NOC has also changed in the last 48 hours.

Chiller said she was thankful for the work done by Paes and the local organizing committee to ensure that the issues were resolved quickly.

Fewer than 10% of the competitors have already arrived in Brazil – and there to great them have been “flooded floors, broken elevators, mould and holes in the ceiling” according to media reports far and wide this morning as team managers, athletes and volunteers get the word out to the world.

Some teams, including the United States, Italy and the Netherlands, paid for workers to finish their rooms, The New York Times reported, citing Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.

She said her group has been living in nearby hotels, “because the Village is simply not safe or ready”.

The unfinished village, built at a cost of about $1.5 billion, marks the first organizational crisis of South America’s first Olympics, which open in just over a week.

‘We are not ashamed of what has happened, but we are sad that not all the athletes have found (the accommodation) to their liking’.

Aside from security and the livability of the apartments, health concerns were also raised prior to the Olympics as some of the top athletes from the participating nation have declined to participate because of the Zika virus scare.

“The possibility that travellers returning from the Olympics may spread Zika has become a polemic issue that has led to athletes dropping out of the event, and without evidence, undue stigmatisation of Brazil”, said Ko. Those who have moved-in represent 120 countries.