ISSA developing virus plan for Champs

Keith Wellington, president of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), said his organisation would be employing proactive and stringent measures at this year’s ISSA/GraceKennedy Boy and Girls’ Athletics Championships, in light of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

The five-day championships takes place at the National Stadium, March 24-28, and with the disease accounting for over 3,800 deaths worldwide and over 100,000 confirmed cases, Wellington said that ISSA is willing to take a strong approach to limit the possibilities of contraction and transmission .

“We will be putting in protocols for the schools not to allow ­students to participate if they are showing any signs of fever, flu, or anything like that,” Wellington said.

There has, so far, been no recorded cases in Jamaica. However, Wellington told The Gleaner that his association was not taking anything for granted and would be advising the schools on their plans going forward.

“We are putting plans in place to not just communicate with the schools, but also to putting measures in place to minimise the opportunity for transmission and to deal with cases that may arise during the championships,” said Wellington.

“We are definitely addressing the situation very seriously,” Wellington added. “This threat has to be taken very seriously, and so we will be doing our best to ensure that we put everything in place in the event of an outbreak.”

Wellington underlines that they have met with a medical specialist about the matter and that they will be ironing out the details well ahead of the championships, which usually attracts fans, coaches, and media professionals from all over the world, including countries that have registered confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths .

MEDICAL PERSONNEL

The St Elizabeth Technical ­principal also noted that the ­organisation would deploy ­additional medical personnel during the ­championships, if necessary.

“I have met with a specialist, and we are putting together a plan,” Wellington said. “A micro biologist is somebody who has experience in these types of situations, and he is somebody who has experience with the World Health Organization, and so we are working to put a plan in place, and if the plan includes more doctors or more specialists or more equipment, then fine.”

Meanwhile, president of the Jamaica Track and Field Coaches Association David Riley, who is also the head coach at Excelsior High School, warned against what he described as a potential overreaction while noting that ISSA would best serve in this matter by providing guidelines to schools as opposed to taking a hard-line approach.

“Guidelines would be great, team manuals would be great. Give suggestions because not everything is plain and simple to everyone,” Riley said.

“There are no cases in Jamaica. We should continue to be guided by the medical and scientific specialists, but why would we overreact over something that doesn’t exists (here). We have no cases here in Jamaica, and so if someone has a cold, it cannot be coronavirus,” said Riley, who outlined that his team and others already have procedures in place to prevent the spread of viruses such as influenza.

“We have procedures for Champs in terms of athletes and symptoms. Outside of coronavirus, it’s a problem if someone has a flu and infects the entire team. Teams are supposed to have procedures in place,” added Riley.

Close to 3,000 athletes compete at Champs on a yearly basis.