Brazilian ambassador to Jamaica Carlos den Hartog yesterday assured Jamaicans that Rio de Janeiro, is ready to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad,

BY HOWARD WALKER Observer senior reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, June 14, 2016   

Brazilian ambassador to Jamaica Carlos den Hartog yesterday assured Jamaicans that his country’s second most populous city, Rio de Janeiro, is ready to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, pointing out that the Government is on top of security issues and health concerns relating to the Zika virus.

Brazilian Ambassador to Jamaica Carlos den Hartog
 (third right), Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) President
 Mike Fennell (second right), and World Championship
 4x400m silver medallist Javon Francis (centre)
 display the JOA’s Olympic Torch

“We have a centre of intelligence that takes care of all the security. I have managed to see the logistics, and I have been working with the security forces in Brazil, and I know how they work, and I can tell you, they work very fine. In two big games that we had we never had a single injury,” Hartog told the launch of the Jamaica Observer’s official coverage of the Rio Olympic Games, dubbed ‘Ready, Set, Rio’, at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue headquarters in Kingston.

The Games, set for August 5 - 21, are being held during the Brazilian winter, which runs from June to September. During that time, temperatures can vary between 13 and 18 degrees Celsius (55 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit), making it difficult for mosquitoes that spread viruses to thrive.

Last month, the

BBC reported Oxford University virology researcher Oliver Brady as saying that the risk of the Zika virus spreading at that time was comparatively low because of the temperature.

Yesterday, Ambassador Hartog pointed to that fact. “We also have the advantage of the weather... and on the record in Brazil this is the month that we have less cases of disease by this kind of mosquito, like dengue, chikungunya or ZikV,” said Hartog.

“The cases go very low because of the weather. It’s colder in August by one or two degrees. In Rio, it is cold by Rio standards. So if there are any cases they will be very minimal,” he added.

The ambassador said he was honoured and pleased to be attending the launch of the coverage and expressed confidence that the newspaper’s reportage will be “excellent”. more