(image courtesy of MyCiTi)
Dear Western Province Figure Skating family
As you are all aware, the COVID-19 coronavirus has become a National emergency.
Since we have ceased all figure skating related activities in the province, the country has continued to see a rise in confirmed cases on a daily basis.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a nationwide lockdown effective 23:59 Thursday 26 March until 16 April 2020. While there is still a lot of uncertainty around what will be allowed and what is prohibited during this time, we do know that only certain essential services and businesses will remain open.
We are expected to remain in our homes for the full duration of this lockdown with only essential travel permitted (necessary medical treatment and food shopping allowed).
There has been, and will likely continue to be, a lot of conflicting information about this lockdown (and the virus itself) on social media and via word of mouth.
Please ensure that you have the correct information and do not simply accept what you read online, unless via reputable outlets.
SAFSA Western Province would like to urge our members to please stay home during this time and to continue to exercise the recommended hygiene and other preventative measures. This is a very serious thing we are dealing with and while many have said that it isn’t so severe, we still do not know what to expect with regards to the virus re-infecting a recovered patient. We are unaware of the time required for the body to build up to full strength after recovery after overcoming the virus and a second bout could prove to be far more severe than the first.
Remember, we are all in this together and should continue to stay connected via the various technologies available to us. We would also like to suggest that this time be used for a nice break from the physical exertion of daily training, without concern for “falling behind” since everyone is in the same situation.
We would also suggest staying active at home by working out frequently. Please consult with your coach or other qualified professional for guidance.
This is also a good time to catch up on school work and to do all of the other things (physical socialising apart) that we as skating people seldom get to do.
Use this time to your advantage and try and be as productive as possible.
For more information, please visit the OFFICIAL South African Coronavirus website https://coronavirus.datafree.co/ (This site requires no data to access.)
Links to all recently published Government Notices around the COVID-19 Coronavirus can be found here: https://www.gov.za/documents/notices
Please stay safe so that we may all see one another at the end of this, in good health , good spirits and ready to attack the ice!
On the lighter side – a story of optimism:
“One evening, two frogs — an optimist and a pessimist — were hopping around a dairy.
Distracted by the number of flies and cows, they both fell into a vat half full of milk.
Upon seeing the high of the walls and realizing that there was no escape, the pessimist frog crawled into a ball and sank to the bottom.
The optimist frog saw the same walls and came to the same realization as the pessimist frog, but instead of giving up, he decided to keep on swimming. He believed that if he stayed afloat long enough, something would save him.
So, he kept swimming and swimming, right through the night.
The next morning, because of his kicking, some of the milk had been churned into butter. He was then able to stand up and jump out to safety.
The moral of the story? No matter how bad it seems, keep swimming. You have no idea how the story is going to end, until it has ended.”
SAFSA (Western Province)