Cancelling events best way to prevent spread of virus
Now that the coronavirus has hit our shores with seven confirmed cases, all of whom had travelled to Italy, we should think carefully about the hosting of the Ironman Port Elizabeth, planned for the March 29 2020.
Multiple events, sporting and business, have been cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
I could mention more than a dozen that come to mind, but I will just mention three huge events cancelled recently because of the coronavirus outbreak — the Barcelona and Paris marathons and the Chinese Grand Prix.
Under threat of cancellation are the London Marathon and the Japan 2020 Olympic Games.
Soccer matches in Italy are to be played in empty stadiums.
As I said, there are many more examples of both sporting and business events which have been cancelled or postponed.
The list of business events cancelled is extensive and is freely available on Google.
China has locked down more than 50m people and today there are still millions in China with restricted permission to move.
Italy has locked down a quarter of its population and yet we continue with huge international events with people from these red-zone coronavirus infected areas attending.
Regarding the Ironman to be held in our city on March 29, how many participants will be coming from Europe and Asia?
Will all of them be tested? Remember that people infected with the virus may show no symptoms but can still be infectious.
On arrival will our airport officials be dressed appropriately to safe guard themselves? As we all know, there is no cure for the coronavirus, nor is a vaccine anywhere close to being tested on humans.
Who will bear responsibility for the safety of these officials and their families?
Should our priority not be to minimise the chances of getting infected?
Are we aware that there is a global shortage of test kits for this virus.
As we are still in the containment phase, kit manufacture is under strain with production facilities short staffed or closed.
Demand is very high globally.
Many flights have been grounded, so the distribution of supplies is also severely constrained.
The end result is that we have very little kit to work with.
How are we as medical personnel going to deal with the possible outbreak of the coronavirus in Port Elizabeth due to an influx of people from high-risk regions?
Hard as the National Institute for Communicable Diseases tries, it is inundated with queries and just not able to respond in a satisfactory manner.
It too has to triage patients and only test those patients with specific symptoms.
It too has a shortage of testing kits.
If an employee of a B&B or a hotel contracts the virus from people from these coronavirus endemic areas, who will be held liable?
What about all the volunteers who will be helping to stage this international event?
Who will be responsible for the resultant medical costs if these people are infected?
And to think it could have been prevented.
Is prevention not better than the search for a cure?
Do we have the facilities to handle a coronavirus outbreak?
If countries with more skills and resources than we have — China, the US, Italy — are barely managing to contain the disease, what chance do we have?
These developed countries countries are battling. For us in SA it will be absolutely devastating on all fronts — medical, emotional and most certainly financial.
We just do not have the resources to deal with a huge outbreak and I challenge anybody to dispute that.
I am of the opinion that the Ironman SA and other major upcoming sporting events such as the Two Oceans and Comrades Ultra marathons, should either be cancelled or restricted to South African and Southern African entrants only.
Better safe than sorry!