With Ten Thousand Sick, Face Masks Needed at Boxing & MMA Events Due to Coronavirus Pandemic
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Now that the Wuhan Coronavirus, which is spread from person to person, has become a worldwide pandemic with nearly ten thousand people sick, and 200 people dead, international health concerns have been raised. Travel in and out of Mainland China, as well as Asian countries, has either been restricted or discouraged due to rising numbers of diagnosed illnesses and deaths from the 2019-nCoC Wuhan Coronavirus. Under the new decree of January 31, 2020, President Trump has now ordered foreign nationals cannot be admitted to the United States from China, while Americans returning from affected areas in China will be forcefully placed under Quarantine. No vaccine currently exists. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Health (NIH) is currently developing a vaccine into what he calls phase one, but which would not, by virtue of the time factor, if shown to be effective be able to be tested beyond phase one if the spread of the coronavirus is to be stopped. The scenario depends on how transmittable and spreadable the severity of the virus.
To begin, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern. A global emergency of this magnitude requires an international coordinated response from United Nations member countries. If medically masks are no longer commercially available because panicking people are hoarding them, this would put people who lack access to them at greater danger, if and when face masks are required.
People hoarding face masks during as medical epidemic is sort of like hoarding flashlights during a blackout, in the sense if the overly concerned early birds buys all stock of the masks which are available, then if the masks become required, there could be none left for purchase, and it could result in insufficient time to manufacture and distribute more masks to meet public demand, in the face of a rapidly spreading epidemic. China is dealing with the center of the epidemic storm. The rest of the world will soon take action if the Coronavirus is not stopped, meaning education of the general public, and the distribution of masks, would be required. There use would either be mandatory, optional, or depending on circumstances by location or by time.
In the modern era, only some individual with some sort of immunological circumstance would ever be seen at a sporting event, to protect themselves. The time may soon come when everybody attending a public Mixed Martial Arts or boxing event will have to wear these masks as a defensive measure in the face of an uncertain epidemic such as the Coronavirus…….at least until the Coronavirus epidemic is safely resolved. There are a lot of mysteries here. The government and the medical establishment may say masks are unnecessary to prevent hysteria, or because they really are unnecessary, depending on where. However, their public may disagree. In the People’s Republic of China, people are already wearing masks, with the impact of the epidemic varying by province. Worldwide implications are not yet clear, but the principle behind wearing masks is clear: it is better to be safe than sorry.
As a consequence, it is this reporter’s view that face masks should be available and tolerated at Boxing and MMA events as an optional safety protocol, until such time as the Coronavirus pandemic is cured and stopped. If not, face masks could become a worldwide requirement at all sporting events for the duration of the Coronavirus epidemic. All countries need to be educated and alert on the dangers of the Coronavirus, and methods to prevent its spread. In meanwhile, President Donald Trump has banned all foreign nationals who traveled to China in the last 14 days will from enter the United States, according to a proclamation from President Trump. The action is to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, according to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar.
Any American citizen who recently traveled in China, and is now returning, will undergo health screening on entry into the country and will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. In a throwback to the smallpox quarantine days of American immigrants arriving over a century ago at Ellis Island, American citizens who traveled to Mainland China’s Hubei province where the Coronavirus originated will immediately be held under mandatory quarantine for 14 days by the authorities when they return to the United States.
COMMENTS
English