Cape Town – Cape Town Cycle Tour organiser Dave Bellairs has given the assurance that anyone presenting with possible coronavirus symptoms at a medical station on race day will be taken to an isolation area, with various protocols in place.
Bellairs was speaking yesterday before the first coronavirus case was reported in South Africa. The Health Department confirmed on Thursday that a 38-year-old had tested positive for Covid-19 in KwaZulu-Natal after travelling to Italy.
Last Friday, a group from Italy cancelled their participation in Sunday's Cycle Tour over coronavirus fears.
Last night, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said professional football matches and other big sporting events will take place without fans present until April 3.
The preventive measure is part of a new decree issued by the government hoping to prevent a further spread of the virus which has caused 3 089 infected cases and 107 fatalities in the country.
Last Thursday, the Abu Dhabi Sports Council cancelled the last two stages of the UAE Tour after two staff members of an Italian professional team tested positive for the coronavirus. The South African-owned NTT Pro Cycling team also took part in the race.
Yesterday, the UAE announced six more coronavirus cases linked to the abandoned cycle tour. This after two luxury hotels in Abu Dhabi were in lockdown on Friday to isolate guests after two Italian cyclists were suspected of contracting the coronavirus.
With the pandemic steadily spreading across the globe, global sporting events are increasingly facing postponements and cancellations.
On its website, the Cape Town Cycle Tour said "it is acutely aware of the current circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 virus, we are monitoring the situation as it unfolds and working closely with our chief medical officer, Dr Darren Green of Mediclinic".
"We are taking our lead from the provincial and national departments of Health, who in turn are working closely with and being guided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
"Together with our medical team, we have developed protocols for Lifecycle Week, including race day, which we will have in place. We look forward to welcoming all participants to the start this coming Sunday.
"The provincial government of the Western Cape has set up a platform that they will keep updated with all relevant information in respect of the COVID -19 situation."
Regarding the Italian party's cancellation last week, Bellairs told the Daily Maverick: "It had to do with their insurance and the fact that they wouldn’t be covered if they travelled under these circumstances. That’s as much detail as I have on that.
“The guy who has cancelled has been bringing a group of Italian cyclists over here for the past five years. Two days before he cancelled he had sent me the list of the party’s names and documentation.
“We, as the Cycle Tour, have been taking a closer look at where international participants are coming from. We have participants from 74 different countries.
“There are no entries from China this year. We don’t normally have a lot of entries from China. There are none from Algeria and Egypt, two other areas where COVID-19 has been detected.
“We have an entry from Nigeria, which has just had its first case. We have a significant number of participants from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There are 132 listed this year.
“We are monitoring the situation but we are not seeing massive numbers of people from affected areas. Our Italian numbers are down to 28 participants.”