MANILA – The concerned government agencies have issued supplemental guidelines under Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 2020-0001 on Sports for the conduct of bubble training of the Philippine Team bound for the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam later this year.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Games and Amusements Board (GAB), and the Department of Health (DOH) made the joint order which applies only to the members of the Philippine Team -- both for contact and non-contact sports determined by their respective National Sports Association (NSA) in close coordination and endorsement by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) or Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) to the PSC.
National athletes and personnel below 18 years old are required to have written parental consent, according to the joint order.
“We would like to thank the government through the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) for approving the JAO guidelines. This will boost the morale of our national team members as they prepare for the 2021 SEA Games,” PSC Chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez said in a news release on Wednesday.
The bubble-type training shall be implemented under strict supervision and monitoring of the PSC Medical Scientific Athletes Services (MSAS) Unit and JAO-designated Health and Safety Officers who will continuously monitor the health status of all individuals involved during and after the activity.
Only areas placed under moderate and low-risk community quarantine classifications can host bubble trainings with a maximum number of allowed individuals based on the risk assessment of the PSC, POC, PPC, and respective NSA.
Plans and activities must be coordinated with the host local government unit and Regional IATF.
Meanwhile, the PSC is studying the hosting of bubble training for athletics, boxing, karate, and other sports in its Baguio facility.
The Philippines will send around 700 athletes and officials to the Hanoi SEA Games slated from Nov. 21 to Dec. 2. (PR)
