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No stone unturned - ... JFF doc details rigorous safety plan for Reggae Boyz camp

Published:Sunday | October 25, 2020 | 12:20 AMRobert Bailey - Sunday Gleaner Writer
Arscott
Arscott
Members of Jamaica’s national senior men’s football team go through an exercise during a training session at the University of West Indies/Jamaica Football Federation/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on August 27, 2019.
Members of Jamaica’s national senior men’s football team go through an exercise during a training session at the University of West Indies/Jamaica Football Federation/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on August 27, 2019.
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Head of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Medical Committee, Dr Guyan Arscott, has confirmed that a massive sanitisation exercise will be undertaken at The University of West Indies (UWI)/JFF/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, ahead of the Reggae Boyz’s upcoming one-week camp at the facility.

The Reggae Boyz are expected to assemble at the venue as they continue their preparation for their two friendly internationals away to Saudi Arabia on November 14 and 17, and the JFF medical team is putting everything it can in place to safeguard players and support staff against the coronavirus disease, which continues to ravage the island.

More than 8,600 Jamaicans have been infected by the deadly virus, which has also claimed 182 local lives up to yesterday morning, and Arscott told The Sunday Gleaner that his team will not be taking any chances, as he highlighted that every area of the facility will be thoroughly checked and sanitised ahead of the delegation’s arrival and throughout their stay at the venue.

“It will be a comprehensive sanitisation, which will be required because this is a dormitory for the players and staff, and so it is expected that this will be done,” said Arscott. “Separate and apart from the day-to-day sanitisation that the ancillary staff will be carrying out, each player and member of staff will ensure that they themselves will pay strict attention to the sanitisation protocols on an hour-by-hour basis.

“We will also have medical personnel that will be there monitoring on a daily basis, so that any indication or any sign or symptoms of this virus will be reported immediately, it will be dealt with swiftly and the Ministry of Health and Wellness will be informed, so that is expected to be a part of the whole management and protocols at the facility,” Arscott added.

In addition to the living and communal spaces at the UWI/JFF/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, Arscott emphasised that all equipment which will be used by the players, coaches and management staff will also undergo deep sanitisation throughout the camp.

DAILY TESTING

Additionally, every player along with members of the management and technical staff will be tested upon arrival at the venue, and once this is done, they will not be allowed to leave the facility until the team departs for Saudi Arabia.

“They will be tested on the day of entering and they will not be entering into the training until we have got their test results,” said Arscott. “I think we are very fortunate that we have this Horace Burrell Centre, because I think it would have been virtually impossible otherwise, and so this allows us to be able to monitor what is happening,” said Arscott.

“In fact, we are going to set up further training awareness for the players and technical staff because the medical team will see to it that not only the administrative arm will be implementing the protocols, but that the players themselves and the coaches will understand the protocols of the whole system being as good as its weakest link,” he said.

robert.bailey@gleanerjm.com

• Deep sanitisation of UWI/JFF/Capt Horace Burrell Centre

• Pre-camp COVID-19 tests for players/staff

• Constant sanitisation of equipment

• Hourly execution of protocol

• Bubble-style camp