Dr Jones believes it’s safe to resume some sporting disciplines

DR Kevin “Gwynn” Jones, president of the Jamaica Association of Sports Medicine (JASM), does not believe that all competitive sports should be lumped under the same umbrella by the Government and sidelined out of concerns of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but should be looked at individually.

Dr Jones thinks there are some sports that can be restarted as they can be safely executed and would not contribute to the spread of the novel coronavirus, singling out ‘individual’ sports such as track and field, swimming, motor sports and some racquet sports.

While the Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton had said defiantly that his ministry would not be forced into making any decision and the Government had gone back on a decision to allow some sporting events to resume, extending the restrictions until the end of the month, the calls from several quarters have increased for sporting events to be allowed to resume.

Dr Jones, who has accompanied many national units as the team doctor, including at the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London, was not as optimistic about the return of contact sports however. “The bottom line is this, for non-contact sports such as those mentioned and including racquet sports where individuals can safely practice COVID protocols, there is no significant need to extensively test individuals,” he told the Jamaica

Observer.

The medical doctor, whose organisation had put together protocols for the safe return to sports and had shared them with all the major sporting bodies in the country, the Intersecondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) and the Jamaica Olympics Association from last year, said it might not be as easy for team contact sports. “However, in contact and close contact sports, such as football, basketball, netball, etc, where physical distancing is not possible, the only real safe way to return to sports is to have all participants tested prior to participating and then confined to that area during competition (the bubble concept).”

Dr Jones, who is also a part of the organising committee for the track and field meets put on by Manchester High School, said the JAAA had “employed some of the protocols in their back to competition protocols for track and field and ISSA asked me to sit on the technical planning committee for ‘Champs’.”