MALABONG maging makatotohanan ang pagkakaroon ng malaking crowd sa mga sports events ngayong taon sa mga bansang nakakaranas ng mahigpit na community-level para masugpo ang coronavirus pandemic.

Ito ang inihayag ng World Health Organization na nagsabing magiging “disaster” ang kahihinatnan kung papayagan ang pagdaraos ng mga sports matches na may libu-libong mga manunood.

Ayon kay WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan, hindi nila masabi kung kailan puwedeng muling maidaos ang mga sports events na may malalaking crowds.

“We don’t know,” wika ng Irish epidemiologist.

Romualdez, pinasalamatan tennis player na si Alex Eala

“Large crowds of 40, 50, 60,000 people— it’s not just the risk of being in the stadium, it’s the risk of going to the stadium, the public transport, the bars and the clubs,” paliwanag nito.

“Imagine all the problems we have now with nightclubs and bars, and you squeeze all of that together into a four- or five-hour experience, where thousands of people go on the same public transport to a venue, get involved in the social aspects before a game, be involved in the game and then all of the social aspects after.”

“In the context of community transmission, that could be disastrous,” aniya.

Dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic, ang mga malalaking mga sports events gaya ng Tokyo 2020 Olympics at 2020 European football championships ay naiurong sa susunod na taon habang ang mga major football tournaments gaya ng Europe’s Champions League at English Premier League ay idinaos ng closed door.

“We may have to expect that as things open up, we go from having no-one at the games to maybe 1,000 and 2,000,” ayon pa kay Ryan.

“We all want our sport back. We’re just going to have to be careful for a good bit longer. It’s very unrealistic in countries with community transmission that we’re going to be seeing large gatherings like that this year,” aniya