MTBA issues Coronavirus update for events

With a number of major events over the next few weeks and ongoing local club and state activities Mountain Bike Australia wants to assure the mountain biking community that we are closely monitoring the Coronavirus situation.

The most up to date information on COVID-19 (Coronavirus) can be found at the Australian Government Department of Health website.

MTBA is also in communication with State Departments of Health in regions that are hosting major events to ensure that all participants and organisers have up-to-date information.

Our current advice is that all programs and events should proceed as scheduled.  However, we ask that participants don’t attend any rides or races (at any level) if:

• You have been in any of the high risk declared zones in the past two weeks (listed here)
• You have been in contact with anyone who has been travelling in those zones, or are concerned you may have been in contact with anyone that has Coronavirus

If you have recently travelled to a moderate risk zone (listed here), monitor your health for 14 days after leaving that country. If you develop a fever or cough, seek medical advice urgently, isolate yourself and do not attend any rides or races (at any level).

The most up to date advice and information relating to high performance environments can be found at the AIS webpage.  This site is dedicated to providing evidence based, real time advice in a number of areas, including travelling to sporting events, athletes arriving or returning to Australia, and FAQ’s.

In addition, we ask everyone to practice high levels of hygiene health (washing hands, use hand sanitizer etc) which are widely considered by health experts to be key to disease prevention and management. We also ask that we avoid physical contact (e.g. shaking hands in medal presentations, sharing microphones for commentators).

The UCI has also issued the following relevant recommendations:

• Increasing the distance between the public and riders, particularly at start and finish zones
• Respecting certain hygiene measures, for example avoiding the use of the same pen by riders signing on at the beginning of a race.

Should any advice from the Department of Health change we will follow this advice and update the cycling community accordingly.