The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and the Pan American Weightlifting Federation will hold a joint online seminar with the chairman of the IWF Medical and Anti-Doping Committees, Mike Irani.
Scheduled to be held tomorrow at 2pm GMT on the IWF’s YouTube channel, the seminar will look at how to adapt and live during the COVID-19 pandemic when most countries continue to have heavy social restrictions.
Ahead of the seminar, Irani spoke in an interview for the IWF’s YouTube page, where he briefed those in the sport on the basics of staying safe during this period.
Irani said: “The most important thing is that weightlifters are special and you are special, as are your loved ones.
“I’m here to reaffirm those thoughts and make sure you know what’s going on.
“There is no cure yet for this virus, hopefully they will have a vaccine for this towards the end of next year so you will have to wait nearly 18 months before we can get something to prevent.
“The treatment is different for different patients.
“Certain age groups are more susceptible, particularly over 70 which could affect some masters in weightlifting.
“Patients of Afro-Caribbean or Asian background are more susceptible and men get it worse than females.
“Some patients get well very quickly through the mild form of the disease, but that doesn’t mean you stay at home because you may have something else like another infection while some may have had a heart attack or stroke and it’s very important to get them to hospital.
“You may catch something if you’re not already suffering from coronavirus or you may have it and give it to somebody else particularly a nurse or a doctor who is looking after people.
“The basic fundamentals are washing your hands, avoid touching your face because it can spread infection; another point being to avoid contact with people by staying at least two metres away from them except those who you live with.
“Also avoid going out when you can – your car may not be your best friend because your car may take you away from where you are and you have to come back again and you may be contaminated in the process.”
To date, there have been more than 6.28 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, resulting in the deaths of more than 374,000 people.
By Michael Houston -InsideTheGames
