JADCO to resume wide-scale testing
Published:Monday | October 5, 2020 | 12:07 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
Chairman Alexander Williams says the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) will be resuming wide-scale testing of athletes despite the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Williams told The Gleaner that JADCO has been closely monitoring the pandemic and has put all the necessary protocols in place to protect its staff from contracting the virus.
“I am pleased with how things have been going because we are coming back up to what we consider to be our optimal level,” he said. “We are still affected by COVID-19 and how it affects the staff moving about, but we have to work in the environment.
“There was a time earlier in the year, I think it was about March or April, when we had to suspend and then we had to pick up back again, so I am happy with where we are, and you know it will only get better from here.”
Williams said that despite fear by JADCO staff and athletes of catching the coronavirus, he has not received any reports of incidents where there was no compliance.
He said that his staff have been adhering to the rules and protocols that have been set out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
“I have not received any report of any issues from any athlete, or any sporting organisation, or even from the JADCO staff of any particular issue, so I am going to take that to mean that things seem to be fine,” Williams said.
“There are protocols that are in place in compliance with WADA directives as to how we go about testing our athletes, given COVID-19, and we at JADCO have been following these protocols.”
JADCO received its first-ever national anti-doping mobile unit from the sports ministry on Wednesday.
The specially retrofitted bus is the second in the world to be operated by a national anti-doping organisation.