Worsening health crisis now making leaders reconsider Hanoi Games stint

The current resurgence of coronavirus cases is making top sports officials reconsider sending teams to the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG).

After all, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the funding arm of the government for all things sports, has a fairly accurate barometer to determine how severe the health crisis is: Its almost filled-up facilities.

PSC commissioner Ramon Fernandez said the agency’s previous attempt to use the Rizal Memorial Coliseum and Philsports Arena for training will “most probably” have to wait.

He posted on his Facebook page that Ninoy Aquino Stadium, which has been transformed to a mega-swabbing center, has tested 611 suspected COVID 19 patients. Since March 2, it has swabbed 6,110.The nearby Rizal Memorial Complex, which is now a quarantine facility, is fully booked with 97 patients. Philsports in Pasig City now accommodates 111 patients out of 132 beds.

Fernandez, chief of mission for Team Philippines in the Vietnam SEA Games, said he has never heard of a national pool member who caught the virus, though.

But in his guest appearance on Saturday’s episode of the Chasedown, Fernandez said skipping the biennial meet “is really an option.”

The SEA Games is slated Nov. 21-Dec. 2 in Hanoi.

LPGT event canceled

The P750,000 Eagle Ridge leg of the LPGT slated to tee off on Tuesday was canceled because of the rising cases of COVID-19.

“For the safety and protection of our players and employees, the ICTSI Eagle Ridge Ladies Championship will be canceled until further notice,” the PGTI said in a statement.