Winter Olympics 2018: Norovirus outbreak – 194 people struck down by infection

Organisers said 47 people had been placed in quarantine while 147 others have recovered and returned to work.

The norovirus is one of the most common winter stomach bugs, responsible for gut-wrenching cramps, aching limbs, fevers and headaches.

So far none of the Olympic athletes have been infected by the virus.

Officials from the Pyeongchang organising committee said tests were being carried out on tap water, food items and catering staff to try to establish the source of the outbreak in South Korea.

Kim Hyun-jun, director of the Korea Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC), confirmed the authorities were battling the spread of the virus.

He said no deaths have been reported, despite false and misleading headlines on social media, and added the winter flu typically clears out without medical treatment after several days.

Dr Kim said: “In order to stop the further outbreak of the virus, we’re quarantining patients beginning from the diagnosis to the treatment. We’re going to minimise this outbreak.”

The expert stressed January and February are “peak seasons” for the winter flu.

There were fears the outbreak could affect the start of the Games as organisers were forced to pull 1,200 guards from duty after 41 of them were struck down with the bug.

Officials quickly drafted in a further 900 people to replace the guards, including some from the military, and the opening events went ahead as scheduled.

The cold weather in Pyeongchang is continuing to prove a headache for organisers with temperatures well below freezing throughout the day and dropping to as low as -21C at night.

Some of today’s events were hampered by freezing winds with competitors in the women’s snowboard competitions complaining the conditions made it almost impossible to complete their routines.