1,200 security workers at Pyeongchang tested for norovirus

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1,200 security workers at Pyeongchang tested for norovirus

The Associated Press Published Tuesday, February 6, 2018 8:07PM EST

A man sanitizes his hands at the entrance to the media cafeteria, Wednesday, February 7, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Text:

PYEONGCHANG, Korea, Republic Of - About 1,200 people working security at the Pyeongchang Olympics are being kept in their rooms while they're tested for norovirus.

Lee Hee-beom, chairman of the Pyeongchang Olympics organizing committee, said Tuesday that they'll be sequestered until they're declared well.

He says results of tests on the workers will come out soon.

Pyeongchang's Olympic organizing committee said Monday that officials started investigating a norovirus outbreak after 41 security guards suffered diarrhea and vomiting.

Officials are examining food and water sources at a mountainside facility in Pyeongchang where the guards had been staying and also inspecting 18 other facilities that rely on groundwater.

Norovirus is a contagious virus that causes stomach pain, nausea and diarrhea. The most effective way to stop the spread is to practice good hand-washing and personal hygiene.