Is the norovirus spreading now in the Olympic Village? This is how the team's chief physician Maarit Valtonen responded to SuomiKiekko.

MILANO. The Finnish Women’s Lions team seems to have currently overcome the norovirus.

The chief physician of the Olympic team Maarit Valtonen confirmed to SuomiKiekko that all players of the Women’s Lions have been released from quarantine and are healthy again.

However, the concern is not entirely gone. The Swiss team announced that after Friday’s match, one of their female hockey players has tested positive for norovirus, and now the entire team is in isolation.

Is it now happening that soon norovirus will run rampant in the Olympic village?

– A lot of work has been done to ensure that a larger outbreak does not occur in the competition village. We have received a lot of praise from Finland for being so open and for reacting aggressively when the disease started, Valtonen said.

– For a long time, it seemed that this would stay only within the Finnish team. It is impossible to say anything about that individual case in Switzerland. The Swiss team has not been in contact with the Finnish team in any way.

– According to the current assessment, these are not related to each other in any way.

– Norovirus is circulating among the population, and in that way, it can be contracted from anywhere. It is a highly contagious disease.

– In the medical field, we help each other and have also supported our Swiss colleague. Everyone naturally hopes that it remains just that one case, so that no major harm would occur.

According to Valtonen, besides the Finnish and Swiss teams, there are no other countries known whose athletes have contracted norovirus.

– I would say that there are none. Of course, it is a limited group of countries that share information so openly. There are certainly countries outside that do not share information as openly, Valtonen said.

– The information we have indicates that no other countries have reported cases of the disease.

Jaakko Perttilä
X: @JaakkoPerttila