For the health and safety of all players, we regret to inform that badminton will be temporarily suspended until further notice due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19.
The decision was a difficult one and we apologise for the disappointment caused. In the meantime, take care of yourself and your loved ones, keep exercising and staying healthy. We look forward to catching up with you when badminton resumes.
On Friday, the Australian Government has advised, effective from Monday 16 March, organised, non-essential gatherings should be limited to 500 people.
The club is not a large gathering, but we have made the decision based on the fact that:
- We are a non-essential gathering.
- We have participants in close proximity.
- People may be infected and contagious without knowing it.
Furthermore, health experts are already calling for social distancing to be practised. Australian Medical Association WA president, Dr Andrew Miller has tweeted that the state’s hospitals were now full and “This disease affects everyone unless we stop gatherings now”.
UPDATE 24/03/2020 – Indoor sporting venues, including the Jim Satchell Recreation Centre, are not permitted to open.
Spread of COVID-19 from person-to-person is usually between close contacts. The health department defines close contacts as the following:
Close contacts are those people who have been face-to-face with a person infected with the virus for at least 15 minutes, or been in the same closed space for at least 2 hours with an infected person.
These conditions exist at the club. In addition, the badminton shuttle is handled countless times during each game by all players, providing another vector for transmission.
It is possible for an infected person to not show symptoms. Although there are no cases of local transmission in WA at this point in time, it can occur if you come in close contact with an infected person who has recently travelled overseas.
Whilst the Government has imposed self isolation on those travelling or transiting from restricted countries, travellers from other countries are still free to arrive and are not required to self isolate.
The number of restricted countries currently is four, but there are many more countries with a high confirmed number of cases.
UPDATE 16/03/2020 – All travellers arriving/returning are now required to self isolate for 14 days.
Unfortunately we will not know the answer until there is evidence that the spread of COVID-19 has been contained or is a low threat to the community.
It could be a month or two, but we simply do not know at this stage. We encourage players to continue exercising by other means.
Members will be emailed when badminton resumes. Non members should check the website for updates.
UPDATE 24/03/2020 – With government restrictions on indoor sporting venues currently in place, it is increasing likely that the closure will last up to 6 months. We’ll update members once we know more.
Rest assured, we’ll figure out the best way to ensure you’ll still get your membership’s worth. This could be in the form of membership renewal discounts for next year, or a discount in the session fees when we return.
UPDATE 24/03/2020 – Please get in touch if you are experiencing financial hardship.
