Chairman of the Sports Medicine Association, Dr Kevin Jones, believes more positive action could have been taken by the government to restart the island’s sports.

Most sports across the country have been shuttered since last year, as the island battled to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.  With sporting events typically attracting crowds and close contact both on and off the field, the government has been hesitant to allow for a restart.

A few exceptions to the rule have been horse racing and select track and field meets. Jones believes the list of sports that were restarted could have been far more with simple considerations.

“Apart from horse racing where I figure there is some financial gain to the government through taxes, there really hasn’t been a conscious effort to get sports back in action locally,”

Jones said in a recent television interview.

“So, their response now in January is a bit late because we have had examples of people returning to sports all over the world,”

he added.

“Track and field, cycling, motorsports, horse racing, it’s a lot easier for you to return to those sports by just practicing all the safety mechanisations put forward by all the major health organisations in the world and the ministry of health, such as mask-wearing, social distancing, and regular hand sanitizing.  The protocols put together makes it safer to return to some of these sports than it is for people to go to their workplace or go to the supermarket.”