The African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5, spokesperson says all necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have been taken despite the reported COVID-19 cases.
The Regional Organising Committee Spokesperson, Mr. Stanley Motoya said this during the daily press briefing held in Maseru on Wednesday as he related how well the games have been going.
He said since the 24^th November 2021, more than 6,142 athletes, officials have been tested for COVID-19 pandemic whereby 150 tested positive, saying this puts the positivity rate of infections to 2 percent.
He said the committee is not worried about the situation as there have only been asymptomatic cases and they have engaged a strict regime of protocols at the athletes’ residences to ensure safety and these include conducting tests every 72 hours for athletes and all officials.
Mr. Motoya stressed that the games will play to completion and that athletes will remain safe as they have been vigilant to observe medical protocols.
He said the adverse weather conditions were experienced during the weekend and forced some games to be postponed, however noting that this will not affect the duration of the games.
Meanwhile, Lesotho is leading the medals’ leaderboard with seven gold, seven silver medals and four bronze medals by Wednesday.
The first Lesotho gold medalist was in taekwondo where Mpho Mofammere, Liteboho Motsohi and Karabo Thokoa collected gold medals in -45kg, -46kg and -59kg weights fights.
According to Taekwondo Association Spokesperson, Mr Molikoe Sek’hok’he the team was well prepared despite the time restraints and COVID-19 restrictions before the Games started.
In the meantime, the South African team has announced on its official website, their withdrawal from the games from Wednesday due to the increasing COVID-19 cases within their team.
However, the Chairperson of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Dr Mohale Mabaleha said the allegations are yet to be communicated formally by the South African entourage.
He said they noted that the South African Judo and Taekwondo teams have already left, and they cannot confirm the departure.
Dr Mabaleha revealed that all teams have Chef de Missions who are responsible for keeping their athletes safe while in transit or at the residence.
Like during the Olympics in Tokyo, where games were played amidst the COVID-19 restrictions, Dr Mabaleha insisted that they expected cases to be recorded and had planned isolation facilities within each residential area.
The participating countries in the AUSC Region 5 are Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Angola, Mozambique Eswatini, Malawi, Namibia, and Zimbabwe with 11 spotting codes. The tournament is expected to end on December 12.
By Staff Reporter: ‘Maphoka Likotsi