Carolyn Broderick, the medical director of Australia's Olympic team, has confirmed that over 40 athletes have tested positive for COVID and other illnesses as it continues to spread.
The confirmation from Broderick comes after Rohan Taylor (Swimming Australia's head coach) stated that multiple swimmers raced with COVID during their events in Paris, France.
While some, like Lani Pallister and Ella Ramsay, removed themselves from their events due to illness, others, like Zac Stubblety-Cook, still competed in their respective events despite testing positive to COVID.
"We can into these Games knowing that there would some infectious illness," Dr Broderick said on Monday viaย AAP.
"Anywhere where you have got 14,500 people living in close confines, sharing bathrooms, bedrooms, dining halls, you can expect some transmission.
"One of the keys that we had is on-site PCR machines ... we get an answer within 45 minutes. "And that allows us to arrange appropriate quarantining if required but also targeted therapies on athletes very shortly after they have had their first symptoms.
"One of the great things has been the selfless attitude of a lot of athletes ... not really worried about themselves but thinking they're sharing a room with someone who is competing in the next few days and they want to minimise the risk for their teammates."
To limit their exposure to COVID and other illnesses, it is understood that the athletes have avoided going to the dining hall at the Olympic Village to avoid exposure with their food being prepared in the Australian allotment.
"The ability to have meals without having to go into the village dining hall ... has just been second to none," Taylor added.
"And it really has helped us to continue to get through the competition and probably gave us a significant advantage over other countries."
