The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have announced that four U.S. winter Olympians have been quarantined after being exposed to someone diagnosed with the coronavirus.
On the Friday conference call, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Finnoff said that one athlete has been tested for the virus, but the results are not yet known, USA Today reported.
A second winter athlete had come down with some respiratory illness, but tests came back negative for coronavirus, he said.
“We have a lot of procedures and guidelines in place,” Finnoff added. “We’ve been working with local, state, and federal officials in order to develop policies and procedures that we will follow if somebody does test positive for COVID-19.”
The International Olympics Committee recently suspended the Olympic torch relay in Greece due to the virus. But the games are still set to begin in Tokyo on July 24 despite the world-wide reaction to the virus.
Board chair Susanne Lyons said that the USOPC urged athletes to continue their training as best as they can even as many of the athletes’ gyms and other facilities have closed down in the face of the virus.
“Our eyes are wide open to the challenges ahead even though our hope remains strong,” Lyons said.
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