National athletes should also be considered as frontliners.
Former Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso "Cito" Dayrit said this after he urged the POC and the Philippine Sports Commission to identify and select deserving national athletes, who can be allowed to go outdoors and undergo special training and physical conditioning on specific days.
“National athletes are frontliners, too, amidst the current coronavirus pandemic when most countries are on different levels of lockdown and quarantine controls. We must not forget that national athletes have more to lose while in hibernation,” said Dayrit.
Dayrit believes that they should be given special Interagency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Disease passes to commute to their training venues that are secured, regularly sanitized and exclusively for their use.
“It is best to remember that athletes need to be in their peak when in competition and preparing for this requires uninterrupted training, both physical and mental,” added Dayrit.
This is one of the recommendations he proposed the POC and the PSC, which in turn will their seek approval before the task force in charge of coordinating the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is no surprise that in other countries, elite athletes are given special arrangements to continue training in their respective sports,” said Dayrit.
Dayrit mentioned Olympic qualifiers long jumper Ernest Obiena and gymnast Carlos Yulo as examples.
Obiena and Yulo are in deep training, while in Italy and Japan, respectively.
Italy and Japan are among the countries hit hard by the pandemic.
Dayrit added that use of personal sports equipment and uniforms must be encouraged and not be shared with others.
