The 2023 World Scout Jamboree is being held in South Korea where two Macau participants felt sick due to the heat there and came back to Macau ahead of time, while the remaining 53 will stay on, Macau Scout Association Director Laurence Chau Shing-chun told reporters in Macau yesterday.
According to Chau, the 55 participants are local teenagers aged from 14 to 17, while their leaders are aged over 18.
Due to the ongoing heat wave in South Korea, the hot weather warning has been issued there recently, outdoor activities are not recommended. Instead, a tour will be organised to observe the country’s industry, history, culture and nature.
Chau said the activity is being held at the Saemangeum Camp in South Korea, with more than 40,000 participants from all over the world, adding that the association has been closely assessing the situation at the camp 24 hours a day, and if any participants request to return to Macau before the event ends, the association would make appropriate travel arrangements.
The temperature in the camp is officially forecast to range between 25 and 33 degrees Celsius today (source: https://weawow.com/c9592511)
Chau also said the association has being updating the scouts’ parents about the hot weather there. The mercury has recently exceeded 34 degrees Celsius in South Korea.
Chau said that the South Korean government, the World Organisation of Scouts and the Scout Association of Korea have proposed a number of measures to improve the impact of the heat wave, including providing unlimited supplies of fresh water and free cooling supplies such as ice cream bars.
Chau noted that the South Korean government has dispatched several batches of tourist buses to the camp to allow participants to escape the heat, and increased medical care and fire services to the camp to deal with emergencies.
According to CNN, 1,486 participants sought help from medical centres at the site of the event on Wednesday alone, and among them, 250 reported skin rashes, 138 reported discomfort due to heat, and 386 reported mosquito bites.
According to the organiser, delegations from more than 150 countries and regions are participating in the camp, which will be held until August 12.
