Coronavirus Statement – Surfing England
The health and safety of the Surfing England family, whether you’re a surfer, volunteer or member of staff, is our main priority.
Based on current government advice, there are currently no plans to cancel, postpone or otherwise change any of the national, regional or local competition and events Surfing England delivers, and at the moment few international events have been postponed yet either.
However, we are aware that the coronavirus outbreak is a very fluid and rapidly changing situation. We are in contact with Sport England to monitor the situation as well as continuing to follow advice from Public Health England, the World Health Organisation and both local and national government on this matter. For the latest advice, please refer to: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public The government is also planning to publish specific advice on sporting events shortly. There’s presently, no reason people should stop surfing as they normally would, using the latest government advice as your guiding principles.
2020 MVMT English National U18 & Open Shortboard Championships
The safety and wellbeing of all surfers, volunteers and staff is of paramount concern to Surfing England and in-line with the latest government advice, the event will be going ahead as planned. We highly recommend everyone attending the event follows the below advice, and anyone who has travelled to one of the high risk coronavirus countries in the last 14 days, or has any symptoms, even if those symptoms are mild, to follow the government advice (https://111.nhs.uk/service/covid-19) and not attend the event.
Any registered competitor having to miss the event due to going into self isolation or through having the virus will be eligible for wildcard selection. As per the selection policy (https://www.surfingengland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2020-Team-England-selection-policy-FINAL.pdf) , athletes in this position will need to notify Surfing England at info@surfingengland.org by the 23:59 on the 13th March 2020.
Surfing England are monitoring the situation continuously and will provide further updates should the current position change substantially.
Internal Events
Regarding the coronavirus and the implications for international travel our key reference point is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website and the adoption of any guidance around travel and mitigation of potential risk to anyone associated with an England Team or event. Team Managers and athletes should continue to monitor the latest advice: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus and stay in contact with Surfing England if the travel advice impacts existing travel plans.
ADVICE
We would like to draw the attention of anyone who attends any surfing event or activity to the following general advice:
- Frequently clean your hands in soap and water, or with an alcohol-based hand rub.
If you cough or sneeze, please cover your mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue – throw the tissue away immediately and wash your hands. - Avoid contact with anyone who has a fever or cough.
- Avoid unnecessary contact with ‘high touch’ areas such as handrails, lift buttons, door handles, surfaces, etc.
- If you experience difficulty breathing, have a high temperature or cough, please stay at home and contact a medical advisor by phone.
- Surfers are entitled, should they wish, not to shake hands or have any other form of physical contact with their opponents or officials
If you are considering attending a surfing event in any capacity and have recently returned to the UK from overseas, particularly the affected parts of the world, we would like to draw your attention to the latest government advice: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
The Government has published an action plan to contain the possible spread of the virus. This advises: There is presently no rationale to close or cancel sporting events, but this may change as the situation evolves. Anyone with flu-like symptoms should avoid the risk of spreading their infection, whatever that infection may be, by staying at home and recovering.
For those hosting surfing events, whatever their size, attendees and participants should stay up to date on the government’s latest advice on how to avoid catching or spreading the virus.
As the situation progresses, we might advise the frail, elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions to stay away from gatherings as part of general advice aimed at minimising unnecessary contact with others.
For those travelling to sporting events overseas, the Foreign Office’s travel advice should be followed, and travellers should note that apart from the countries and territories named in that advice, the government isn’t presently advising against travel to anywhere else.
For those who run a local surf club, hand hygiene should be strongly promoted and encouraged, and equipment and facilities should be thoroughly cleaned and wiped down as usual following use.
As you are well aware, guidance may change in response to events, so please keep a close eye on Gov.uk and we will also keep you updated here too.
