Covid-19: Ministry develops training plan

Coach Wheelchair athletics Eunice Otieno is being vaccinated Enid Kanywa (left) after the launch by CS Sports Amina Mohamed (right) at the start of Intensive National Vaccination Exercise of Kenyan athletes at Kasarani Stadium  April 8, 2021. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage on Monday established a Sports Medical body to develop a model Bubble Training plan to help fight the spread of Covid-19.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said the Ministerial Sports Medical Consortium will be constituted from the Medical Directors of all Organizing Committees undertaking the delivery of the events or Team Kenya international events.

These events include Rugby Federation of Kenya, Athletics Kenya,  the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, WRC Safari Rally and the World Under-20 Championships and the Volleyball and Basketball Federations.

“COVID-19 has reduced vehicular traffic by 30 per cent, switched major corporations nationwide to a work-from-home model all at once, put millions of pupils onto online-learning, necessitated the adoption of training seal off’s christened bubble training camps to protect athletes preparing for international competitions such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, WRC Safari Rally Kenya, World Athletics Under 20 Championships and the Rugby Barthes Cup,” read part of CS Amina’s statement.

“The challenges facing sports medical teams in the light of the pandemic are crosscutting. There is, therefore, need for a Ministerial Sports Medical Consortium to consolidate the expertise and experience that all our supporting medical professionals possess. We have teams leaving the country every week to attend various Olympic and Paralympic qualifying events and world championships across the world. This travel while extremely necessary, comes with COVID-19 contraction risks,” Amina added.

“We have commenced our inaugural bubble training camps at the Moi International Sports Centre, and Kenyatta University. We must pull all the resources available to create safe and sustainable bubble training camps to guarantee full participation at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the other upcoming international events.”

The Consortium will meet and share experiences in their disciplines towards a joint proposal to be adopted by the Ministry to guide all activities.