Let’s live to play another day
JUST LAST week, I was optimistic about the chances of us having the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in four months even amid the threats of COVID-19.
But what a difference a week makes! With the cancellation or suspension of the NBA, La Liga, and Serie A and the virtual lockdown across Europe, I suspect we will see very little sporting action globally for the rest of 2020. Things have escalated rapidly. Even Cristiano Ronaldo is under quarantine in Portugal.
Locally, I must extend praises to ISSA, title sponsors GraceKennedy, and the Government of Jamaica for pulling the plug on the 2020 Boys and Girls’Athletics Championships. While there is a significant financial shortfall of over $150 million for ISSA, the greater economic impact would have been felt if this virus had spread rapidly across the island as a result of some 30,000 spectators converging for five days of reckless folly in the National Stadium.
HEALTH MINISTRY’S PROJECTED COSTS
Currently, the health ministry’s projected costs for treating the COVID-19 virus stand at a whopping $2 billion, and our biggest collective concern, as a nation, should be how to control the spread.
I understand the feeling of distress that athletes and coaches are experiencing, given their immense preparation over the past few months. Some student athletes will close their Champs ‘careers’ without a final-year tally. But all things considered, the strain that this pandemic can cause on our healthcare system and on the lives of our people is of even greater importance.
There are some within the sporting fraternity suggesting that we could still have the championships without spectators and bring the action to the wider public viaTV and mobile.This school of thought is highly questionable as there are over 3,500 persons among the community of athletes, coaches, the medical team, and the media who would be gathering in one location. A gathering of that magnitude, which includes some of the nation’s most prized assets, is still sufficient cause for concern.
The positive cases of COVID-19 are not miraculously confined to the spectator pool, as the NBA learned this week when Utah Jazz players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell tested positive and put an immediate halt to any plans of playing games without spectators.
To get a real sense of what it’s like for sportsmen in countries that have had less rapid responses to the virus and that have had more extensive cases to date, I spoke with IK Start defender and Reggae Boy Damion Lowe, who is currently under lockdown in Marbella, Spain. Lowe expressed that all the players from his Norwegian club have been under lockdown for the past week.
ON LOCKDOWN
“Right now, everything is on lockdown. All the teams on preseason can’t train as we are not allowed outside unless it’s to grab groceries. Every league, every university, everything is on lockdown, and we even had to change hotels because the previous one got too crowded and wasn’t safe anymore,” he said.
As to his hopes of leaving: “We might be stuck here for a couple weeks in Spain, and I’m uncertain what the next step is. Our team is just hoping none of us catch it as that will mean we will all be placed under quarantine, like Cristiano. In Europe, universities, schools, everywhere is closed, and travel is limited. It’s just supermarkets and hospitals that are operational right now.”
I think that with all things considered, public safety and virus control should become the singular national focus for the rest of March. If we are projected to have about two million cases of the virus and there are over two million Jamaicans with underlying conditions or respiratory issues, it is fair to say we have some significant strain on our hospitals and medical centres over the coming months. With a 20 per cent rate of hospitalisation, based on global figures, that’s thousands of Jamaicans. I think we can forgo the championships. Let’s all live to play another day.
One love.