KUALA LUMPUR – Seven athletes and a sports official tested positive for Covid-19 after returning to full-time training following the Christmas and new year festive season.
National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said in a statement today that two track and field athletes, two wheelchair tennis players, two wheelchair basketball players, a hearing-impaired tenpin bowler, and a boccia supervising officer have been infected.
Those who tested positive for the coronavirus were among 466 of a total 735 national athletes, trainees, and coaches who reported for training recently.
Shapawi said the athletes underwent swab tests coordinated by the NSC and National Sports Institute at their respective training centres.
He said the tests involved 20 teams or sports in total, while screening was also conducted at the NSC complex in Taman Keramat, involving 38 out of 41 athletes and coaches.
Another 89 out of 91 para-athletes and coaches underwent swab tests at the Paralympic Sports Excellence Centre (MPSEC) in Kg Pandan.
He said that on Saturday, 39 athletes and coaches at the National Badminton Academy were screened ahead of the Badminton World Federation Asian Tour in Thailand, where Malaysia’s badminton coaching director Wong Choon Hann was found positive and instructed to undergo home quarantine until further notice from the Health Ministry.
Shapawi added that overall, only eight (1%) of the 632 athletes and coaches screened have been found positive and are believed to have been infected at their hometowns during the holidays.
“The individuals found positive have been isolated and awaiting further action from the Health Ministry.”
He added that the NSC has segregated the athletes considered to be persons under surveillance (PUS) who are likely close contacts with those found positive and who would be screened on the fourth day from the initial results.
“If the results are negative but they show symptoms, they need to undergo the quarantine process until the 10th day and a test will be conducted on the ninth day to confirm they are indeed free from infection.”
Shapawi said, following a discussion with Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, that the NSC’s central training camp will proceed with training using the “quarantine-based approach” for the first two weeks, whereby athletes and coaches are not allowed to travel unless they are headed, in a controlled manner, to their respective training centres.
He added that the directive will be reviewed after two weeks based on the spread of the virus.
“The facilities at the training centres can only be used by athletes and coaches,” he said, adding that entry and exit of accommodations and training premises are banned for those who were not athletes or coaches.
He also said sanitisation will be carried out weekly at the training centres and residences.
“This will be carried out immediately. Steps are being taken to ensure compliance with all standard operating procedures (SOPs) that have been set.”
Shapawi said the NSC is committed to ensuring the national athletes are in the best condition to carry out training.
He added that the ruling will be enforced at all related training centres in the NSC complexes in Bukit Jalil and Taman Keramat, MPSEC, Langkawi Sailing Complex, National Badminton Academy, National Velodrome in Nilai, and Mokhtar Dahari Football Academy. – The Vibes, January 4, 2021
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