WPQ COVID-19 | Update #1

Published Sun 15 Mar 2020

WPQ STATEMENT – CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

Over the weekend, Water Polo Queensland Inc. (WPQ) received advice from Water Polo Australia that effective from Monday March 16, 2020, the OVO Australian Waterpolo League (AWL) will be terminated for 2020, the 2020 WPA National Championships due to be held in Adelaide in late May will be cancelled and the Open Championships (Country and Masters) due to be held on the Gold Coast in early May will be postponed (date to be confirmed).

Within the last 24 hours a number of State and National Sporting Organisation’s, including rugby union, netball and basketball have also cancelled or postponed National and State Championships events and have suspended or postponed the commencements of local competitions until further notice. We encourage all members of the water polo community to follow WPQ social media channels and website for the latest official updates.

With the current threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19) impacting the health and wellbeing of all Australians, we find ourselves in unchartered territory and some very challenging decisions regarding participation in water polo competitions, events and programs have to be made.

As leaders of the sport in Queensland, we must put the health and safety of our athletes, officials, staff, volunteers and spectators at the forefront of all decision making. WPQ has taken guidance from the WPA, Federal and State Governments and Health Agencies, Sport Australia and other health authorities, to amend our State events calendar as well as training programs and competitions.

Following advice from Federal and State Governments and Heath Agencies and consultation with our key stakeholders, effective from Mon 16^th March, WPQ provide the following advice:

All WPQ U14, U16 and U19 State Squad and Qld Country Team training is suspended until further notice.

All QAS and National U16 training is suspended for a period of one (1) week and will be reviewed again on Friday 20^th March.

At present, Associations and Clubs may decide to continue with training and local competitions until further announcements compel cessation of such training and/or competition. Until then we encourage all Associations and Clubs to demonstrate caution in line with government recommendations and that everyone should practice good hygiene to protect against infections.

Any Member with flu-like symptoms should self-exclude from playing, coaching, training and spectating at the first sign of the symptoms and seek medical advice. In addition, all international travel arrivals will be required to self-quarantine on arrival back in Australia for a period of 14 days.

Association’s and Clubs should limit non-essential, organised gatherings to fewer than 500 people. For other non-essential gatherings, consider the need to proceed and the issues of health and hygiene and social distancing as further mitigations to reduce the spread of the virus.

Schools and Universities will remain open and respond to local issues as required and on the advice of State Government and Health Agencies.

The Department of Health has advised that the virus is not transmitted via water, and hence tap water can still be used for drinking. Also, Queensland Health has advised that chlorine deactivates the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Yesterday the Brisbane Water Polo Incorporated (BWPI) Management Committee in consultation with WPQ (as the Competitions Managers of the BWPI Competition) made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the 2019/2020 BWPI Summer Competition (including the Women’s and Men’s competitions on a Monday and Tuesday night). This decision was not made lightly and the key factors considered in making this decision were the scale and scope of this metropolitan based competition (involving Clubs and Schools), the risk of exceeding the limit of gatherings of 500 people and the real threat of spreading the Coronavirus to the broader community.

All Associations and Clubs should consider their own circumstances on a case by case basis as well as the possible risks to members and the broader community when making decisions to continue and/or cancel local training, competition and event opportunities. Every Association has a different structure, format, member profile and risk environment for training and competitions and these factors should be considered in the decision-making process.

WPQ are continually monitoring the situation and will keep all Associations, Clubs, athletes, coaches and members informed of any changes or updates to the current Coronavirus situation. We will continue to work with relevant governing bodies to make sensible judgements about training and competition activities and we can make further adjustments as the advice is updated.

Further advice on the Coronavirus COVID-19 can be found from the following recommended sources:

Australian Government

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert

World Health Organisation

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

Centres for Disease Control and Infection

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

Australian Institute of Sport

https://ais.gov.au/health-wellbeing/covid-19

Queensland Health

https://www.health.qld.gov.au/

All members of the water polo Queensland community should note that this is an evolving situation and advice could change at any time. WPQ will endeavour to update the water polo Queensland community as soon as possible should these circumstances change.

Once again, we thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me via email ceo@waterpoloqld.com.au or for urgent matters please contact my mobile 0412 164416.

Kind Regards,

Melanie Woosnam

CEO