As the spotlight finally turned to sports at the Commonwealth Games, the prospect of contracting dengue fever is still a worry in New Delhi.
Swimming was the first sport to get going on Monday, the morning after the games officially opened at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. But health issues, one of the main concerns in the buildup to the games, came to fore on the weekend when 30-year-old Indian lawn bowls team official Ruptu Gogoi was admitted to hospital with the mosquito-borne dengue fever.
English freestyle swimmer Steven Beckerleg, however, said he wasn’t that concerned about getting the disease.
“We’ve been seeing them spraying frequently,” Beckerleg said, “and the fact that one person has acquired it really doesn’t worry me.”
Organisers have been regularly spraying pesticides at high-risk areas, including at the athletes’ village and at the swimming venue, where stagnant water provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
“We’ve got supplies of anti-repellents,” the New Zealand team said in a statement. “So far we haven’t seen too many mosquitoes but we’re continuing to apply regularly.”
‘I was not super worried’
McKay Savage, a 34-year-old Canadian who works for a charity organization in London, said at the tennis venue that he had heard about the dengue fever outbreak before traveling to India for the Commonwealth Games.
“But I was not super worried. I had noticed there were problems caused by the rains but that didn’t stop me from coming,” said Savage, who had previously worked in India for three years. “It was an opportunity to watch something interesting and these things don’t bother me too much.”
Dengue fever, a painful viral disease that can be life-threatening, has become an issue in the Indian capital this year because of the extended monsoon season.
About 3 500 cases of dengue fever have been reported in New Delhi this year, and seven of the afflicted have died, the Press Trust of India reported.
In the pool, there were five medal events scheduled for Monday. English swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who won two gold medals for Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will swim in the 200-meter freestyle.
There were also medals to be won in weightlifting and gymnastics.
Just getting to the first day of competition proved to be difficult for organisers, who had to deal with construction delays, allegations of corruption and security worries in only the second Commonwealth Games to be staged in Asia.
“The preparation to the games was filled with many challenges,” Commonwealth Games Federation President Michael Fennell said in a statement. “Now in the next 11 days we will focus on the competition and follow the athletes in their quest for victory and glory. The athletes will exemplify the qualities of fair play and respect for all.”
This year’s Commonwealth Games bring together more than 6 000 athletes and officials from 71 countries and territories in the British Commonwealth. — Sapa-AP