Sport

Enda McGinley: Bumps in the Covid road show it might be wise to slow down

Conor McKenna's positive test for Covid-19 – along with those in the tennis, golf and cricket spheres over the past week – has reminded us that it would be unwise to think we are out of the woods when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus
Conor McKenna's positive test for Covid-19 – along with those in the tennis, golf and cricket spheres over the past week – has reminded us that it would be unwise to think we are out of the woods when it comes to dealing with the coronavir Conor McKenna's positive test for Covid-19 – along with those in the tennis, golf and cricket spheres over the past week – has reminded us that it would be unwise to think we are out of the woods when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus

THIS past week it has felt like sitting in the back seat of a car being driven by a fed-up and erratic driver.

For months we sat going nowhere, stuck in a Covid lockdown, approaching the conclusion that this year’s sporting journey would never get going at all. Then, signs of movement. The roadblock was being lifted and slowly cars started moving again.

Yes it was delayed, yes it was going to take a lot less time than usual, but at least the journey would be had.

Yet the Covid crisis continues to have the last laugh by first looking as if it’s receded into the background before throwing a few grenades to remind us it hasn’t gone away.

Just last week, after much deliberation, counties were publishing their fixture proposals. But, within days, the Irish government pressed the fast-forward button and shifted the goalposts again. The GAA moved quickly and brought forward dates for full training and a return to competitive games.

Clubs’ return-to-play plans and challenge matches, which had been so hastily arranged over the previous week, were for the bin again as they await to see the revisions, if any, to the initial fixture plans.

Meanwhile, up here the issue of being in a different jurisdiction, that was always lurking in the background, has come into play.

As I write this on Thursday morning, teams here are not be able to resume action in the manner permitted by the GAA’s statement. That might well change, but at this stage no-one really knows.

Everyone, from government to business to sports bodies to individuals are at present making things up as they go along. It’s a matter of getting back to normal but leaving token gestures in place to reassure ourselves that we are being suitably good citizens.

Consistent logic is notable only by its absence. Take Boris Johnson’s British government, who decreed that it is safe for pubs to open in England but not gyms. In the Premier League it is somehow unsafe for teams to walk out side by side two minutes before commencing a full competitive game. Things simply do not add up.

To add to all of this strangeness was Conor McKenna’s positive AND negative Covid test results in Australia which, briefly at least, threw a giant spanner in the return of Australian Rules Football.

While the AFL’s handling of it and how Conor was hung out to dry was a disgrace, the case does raise important issues for the GAA’s return. These issues were further magnified by the positive tests for Novak Djokovic, several other tennis players, backroom staff and his wife, following his Adria Tour event in Croatia.

Both Djokovic and Conor McKenna’s positive results came from actual coronavirus screening tests. Both would have sailed through the GAA healthcare screening checks as they were completely symptom free.

Now, place such an occurrence in the midst of a club where there are multiple games and training sessions all happening at the same club ground and the potential for a ‘super spreader’ event becomes clear. These are not just two rare cases either.

OF the players testing positive in England’s professional soccer leagues, the vast majority are asymptomatic findings from screening. Pakistan’s cricket squad, of whom 11 were found to be positive, were all also symptom free.

The GAA’s health screening questionnaire would have been passed by every one of them. These positive tests are all a result of actual swab-based Covid screening. Premier League teams undergo two tests a week for all players and staff, while provincial rugby teams are also being tested on a regular

basis ahead of their return to action in August. Conor McKenna had been tested FIVE times in a matter of weeks.

Don’t get me started on what will happen come knock-out championship time and a key player happens to have a bit of a cough or a temperature.

The gulf between what professional sports are doing, where squads are on isolated campuses and screened regularly for Covid, and what the GAA can do, is stark and none of those professional sports are aiming to carry out an activity level anywhere close to what will be seen at our clubs over August and September.

As a further point of concern, Conor McKenna has been dragged over the coals because, as a professional athlete, he was supposed to be isolating before games and instead happened to attend a house viewing and visit one family. Compare that to a club player who is working and visiting whoever they please by this stage.

Now, before you think I’m losing the run of myself, I have to admit that, like many of us, my feelings keep veering from one end of the spectrum to the other.

From looking at the ever-decreasing numbers of active cases and deaths and thinking we are well out of the woods to seeing stories like those above or of the German meat processing plant where 1500 staff have tested positive and thinking we could be playing with fire.

When you look at our low numbers, it is worth remembering that Australia, Croatia and Germany all have coronavirus levels a fraction of what we have had in this country.

Then think of the potential knock-on effect of a cluster of cases in an area. All the business and social activity will likely come under lockdown restrictions again. And all of this for what, two months of club activity?

Is it all fine or are we being cavalier? Once again we don’t really know and the evidence is conflicting. Going back to Boris Johnson, he has left grassroots cricket on the no-go list, as the ball is seen as a potential ‘vector’ for the disease. I hope he doesn’t see the corner-forward spitting on his hands getting ready to get his hands on some fine size 5 O’Neills leather.

But returning to normality is the road we are on and, given the length of time we were in the lockdown traffic jam, like everyone else I want to keep on moving.

Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking we are completely safe or we have protective processes in place. We aren’t and we don’t. We are taking a calculated risk.

Given everything we know and the stories from around the sports world that act as shots across the bow, it just might be prudent to take the foot off the gas a wee bit.

Seeing how much we can get played in two months is not the target here. Surely, if lockdown taught us one thing, it’s that less can be more.