With a number of major events over the next year and ongoing local league and state activities the Australian Dodgeball Federation wants to assure the Dodgeball community that we are closely monitoring the Coronavirus situation. Research in respiratory infections in travelling sporting teams suggests that the most likely pattern of spread occurs from within a team, rather than from external sources. When an unwell team member joins the team, due to the regular close physical contact between team members the infections can spread readily within a team (Valtonen et al., 2019). Consideration should be given for delaying travel for team members who are unwell. The most up to date information on COVID-19 (Coronavirus) can be found at the Australian Government Department of Health website. However, we ask that participants don’t attend any events or leagues (at any level) if:
You have been in any of the high risk declared zones in the past two weeks.
You have been in contact with anyone who has been travelling in those zones, or are concerned you may have been in contact with anyone that has Coronavirus.
If you have recently travelled to a moderate risk zone, monitor your health for 14 days after leaving that country. If you develop a fever or cough, seek medical advice urgently, isolate yourself and do not attend any events or leagues.
In addition, we ask everyone to practice high levels of hygiene health (washing hands, use hand sanitizer etc) which are widely considered by health experts to be key to disease prevention and management. We also ask that we avoid physical contact (e.g. shaking hands in medal presentations, sharing microphones for commentators).
Respecting certain other hygiene measures, for example avoiding the use of the same whistle by referees.
We also request that all league owners and event managers enact a contingency plan for their events if the situation in Australia continues to worsen. The risk of becoming unwell with COVID-19 without a history of travel to countries listed by the Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) in the last 14 days is very low.
As a result, there are no restrictions on Australians participating in or attending sporting or large public events. Should any advice from the Department of Health change we will follow this advice and update the Dodgeball community accordingly.
Resources:
https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/australian-health-sector-emergency-response-plan-for-novel-coronavirus-covid-19 https://ais.gov.au/health-wellbeing/covid-19
