The Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletics Championships (BSSAC) have been cancelled due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Assistant meet director Andrew Brathwaite made the announcement hours after Barbados recorded the first two cases of the virus earlier today.
“In light of the statement from the Minister of Health regarding the confirmation of the presence of COVID-19 here in Barbados, and with regards to the restrictions in large gatherings exceeding 100 persons, the BSSAC planning committee wishes to announce the cancellation of all events for the Powerade BSSAC championships,” he said.
Both the Esther Maynard and Frank Blackman Zones were successfully staged last Tuesday through Friday and the finals were scheduled to be held at the National Stadium on Thursday and Friday.
The National Primary Schools’ Athletics Championships are in progress at the same venue. They got off to a delayed start after Minister of Sport John King checked with the Ministry of Health to ensure they could proceed.
The CARIFTA Games which were scheduled to be held in Bermuda over the Easter Weekend were postponed last week.
Earlier this morning, Minister of Health Jeffrey Bostic announced a 48-year-old American and a 39-year-old Barbadian woman were the first COVID-19 cases recorded in Barbados. They are in isolation until they recover.
As a result, Barbados is in Stage 1 of the Management and Response Plan and that includes limiting mass gatherings of more than 100 people. (AG-B)
