In light of the developing COVID-19 outbreak and recent ‘Pandemic’ prescribed by the World Health Organisation, Badminton Oceania and Badminton Cook Islands have decided to postpone the international sporting event; Oceania Masters in Paradise – 21-26 June in Rarotonga, Cook Islands
“Whilst this is a disappointing decision to make; it is not a difficult one as it is within the best interest of everyone associated with the event to postpone it until when the situation is under control, allowing us to offer the best possible experience for Master’s players”, says Badminton Oceania’s Secretary General, Julie Carrel.
The Pacific islands face a number of geographic and population-specific outbreak challenges. Having multiple small islands with vast distances between them can make infectious diseases easy to spread but hard to treat. The coronavirus would likely spread quickly through a small, concentrated island population, especially within communities where up to 20 people can live in one house, as happened with a recent deadly measles outbreak in Samoa. The dispersed nature of these islands, meanwhile, could make communicating public health warnings all the more difficult.
These nations’ health care systems are also less equipped to deal with an epidemic, with limited resources and facilities.
Please see the event page for further information: https://badmintonoceania.org/oceania-masters-in-paradise-postponed/
Text source: https://slate.com/technology/2020/03/micronesia-drastic-coronavirus-travel-ban.html
