National Olympic Committee of Kenya has challenged athletes to be at the forefront of the fight to control the spread of coronavirus in the country in the wake of the confirmation of four cases.
Touting the #letsplaysafe #stopthespread slogan, NOC-K secretary-general, Francis Mutuku noted that the outbreak continues to be a major source of health concern worldwide and has had a significant effect on sporting activities and athletes' welfare in general.
"It is important that our affiliates, athletes and stakeholders remain informed and understand how best to stay safe and protect themselves from illness. Events in other countries have shown us that the next few days are very critical in stopping the spread of the virus," said Mutuku.
NOC-K called upon the sports fraternity to use their immense influence and discipline to implement the directives provided by the government so far.
"This is especially so in the areas of how all of us are expected to behave and act as directed by the Ministry of Health," read the NOC-K statement.
"We call upon our sportspeople to embrace our strong and wide spread campaign to comply with government directives as provided from time to time as well as lead in examples. Further we expect our athletes to influence the right social actions as guided by the Ministry of Health and use their spheres of influence to reinforce the government directives."
The statement added that everyone should abide by the government's directive on management and prevention of COVID 19, especially on the prohibition of mass gatherings that are at the core of sporting events.
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President and the IOC executive will have a Video-conference with the members and stakeholders.
NOC-K confirmed that they will participate in the conference as they had already forwarded their areas of concern in advance for due consideration.
"We, therefore, urge our sportspeople to continue training within safe confines while observing the requisite hygiene guidelines," said Mutuku.
