Brazil allays Zika concerns

Reading a message on behalf of Brazil’s acting President, Michel Temer at the team’s send off ceremony on Monday night, Diniz said there is no need to be concerned about the virus which results in birth defects.

“We can assure you, as has the World Health Organisation, that the risk of Zika infection during the Games is practically non-existent. Historically, an extremely low incidence of disease transmitted by the AedesAegypti mosquito has been recorded during the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere. Indeed, there has been a dramatic decline in cases of Zika infection in Rio de Janeiro and throughout Brazil in the past few weeks,” Diniz said.