Taiwan athletes gear up for Gwangju

2015/06/25

Taiwan will take part in next month’s Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea, despite concerns over an outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, according to the Sports Administration June 23.

A 237-strong team—the largest from Taiwan to take part in the biennial event—is contesting 16 sports at the July 3-14 student games. The first contingent of local athletes will depart June 27 for the Northeast Asian country.

SA Director-General Ho Jow-fei said after an extensive and thorough risk assessment jointly conducted by all relevant government agencies, it was decided to attend the Universiade. “The MERS situation in South Korea seems to be contained, with no reported cases in Gwangju.

“As a precautionary measure, we are sending a 24-member medical team to care for the athletes during the games, as well as providing 5,000 masks to minimize the risk of contracting the disease.”

According to Ho, SA stepped up measures earlier this month ensuring the well-being of the national team. “Two MERS-fighting seminars were held at the National Sports Training Center, and we are keeping abreast of the latest developments by working closely with the International University Sports Federation and South Korean organizers.”

A total of 132 countries and territories will participate in the games. The only withdrawal to date is Macau, with Hong Kong, Russia and Singapore sending downsized representations.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=231857&ctNode=413)