Alexis Pérez Leyva, director of Sports in the province, assures that there are no local athletes from the High-Performance system outside the country and informs that the 23 collaborators of the territory in Venezuela are in perfect health.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- In the midst of the national and global emergency represented by the COVID-19 pandemic, sports in Las Tunas are adjusting to the schedule planned by the country to face the new coronavirus, prioritizing the health of its athletes, all the technical staff and its workforce.
This is confirmed to 26 Digital by Alexis Pérez Leyva, director of Sports in the province, who assures that the most important battle of the sports movement in Las Tunas is the one we are fighting now for the health and life of everyone.
After the suspension of all the sports events in the country, the Provincial Direction of Sports had decided to take advantage of it to restore some facilities and educational centers of ours. We were implementing a system of rotation of workers in the morning and afternoon, all devoted to maintenance work at the Provincial School of Physical Education, the Carlos Leyva González School of Sports Initiation and several Sports Centers throughout the province.
However, on Friday, in a video conference with the Minister of Education and the President of the National Institute of Sport, known as Inder by its Spanish acronyms, we were told to join the effort to stop the spread of the virus and to stay at home, with as few workers as possible on the streets. So that's what we are doing, complying with discipline and making the best contribution that the country needs right now, which is to be in our homes, adds Pérez Leyva.
The highest sports authority of Las Tunas specifies that a group of 12 people is working, which is our Defense Management Body, composed of the director, the five deputy directors and six other workers essential to maintain the functioning of this body.
With the care of the life of every person as the first objective, the local sport has implemented a group of preventive measures, besides collaborating with every community of the territory: We are developing very precise actions. For example, we send our custodians (surveillance and protection agents) over 65 years old to their homes and replace them with young workers, who are less at risk from this new coronavirus. In addition, we are collaborating in the care of the schools of the Education system with workers from the Sports Centers in the communities where they are located.
Although the competition program is officially stopped throughout the country, at least until May 31st, all athletes have their individual physical preparation plan and the indication to implement it at home, trying not to lose their fitness completely.
I've been asked a lot about baseball, but this sport is in the same situation as the rest. Each baseball player is responsible for taking an active break at home, hoping that we can get out of this exceptional situation, he says.
The provincial director of Sports also informs that there is no local athlete in the High-Performance System outside the country at the moment, while from the group of 23 collaborators we have in Venezuela, all of them are in perfect health so far. We have maintained communication with the direction of the Sports Mission in Venezuela, also with their families, and there is no problem whatsoever.
Beyond the fact that in Cuba the spread of the virus is being seriously combated, Pérez Leyva appeals to individual responsibility to contribute to the mitigation of its damages: The most important thing now is to maintain discipline, to comply with all the indications of the Government and the Ministry of Health and, of course, to continue preparing ourselves for the time when the voice is given to resume the activities in each of our sports. We know that there will be many changes and some events will not be able to be carried out, but we reiterate that the most important thing is to take care of ourselves now, because the local sport will come back stronger.
