Per usual, the Summer Olympics are held every four years, bringing the best athletes from across the globe to compete in state of the art facilities. This year, the games will be held in the sunny city of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, but not without serious issues.
With the start of the competition on August 5th, less than four months away, Brazil has only sold half of their available tickets. Their scrambling ways to advertise and problem solve before the games—potentially giving out purchased tickets to public schools in order to fill seats—may not be enough. Unsold tickets prior to the competition are not uncommon (i.e Beijing in 2008), but this year, many will turn away at the risk of the Zika virus.
The Zika virus is a mosquito-carried virus which, if contracted by a woman, can cause birth defects in newborns. Although Brazil attempts to contain the rapidly spreading virus, “the World Health Organization expects the Zika outbreak to spread to almost every country in the Americas.”
Art Caplan, a New York University bioethicist, doesn’t believe Brazil should be “trying to run an Olympics and battle an epidemic at the same time.”
Despite the controversy of danger and suggestions of postponement, Brazil will continue to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.