Amina calm ahead of Worlds despite coronavirus scare

Sports Cabinet Secretary ambassador Amina Mohammed has reiterated that the spread of coronavirus won’t deter the preparations of the upcoming World Under-20 Championships.

Kenya is scheduled to host the global event on July 7-12 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

With most of sporting activities across the globe being postponed or cancelled since the emergence of the virus in Wuhan, China, Amina has assured that the government has put in mechanisms to contain the threat posed by the deadly virus.

Speaking on Thursday at the launch of the World Under-20 logo at a Nairobi hotel, Amina urged foreign countries not to shun away from the July event.

“We are aware of the threat that is posed by COVID-19, the government has put in place mechanism to contain the threat exposed to Kenya and also join in the global effort to address the virus in a humane collaboration.

We will keep you constantly updated on the state of our preparedness and the status of preparations for the championships and we are all hopeful and ready to host this championship,” said Amina.

At the same time, Amina said the preparations for the biennial event are on schedule and that the upcoming World Continental Tour slated for May 2 will provide a perfect platform to assess the country’s preparedness to host the global event.

“The World Athletics officials from different departments were here and gave us a clean bill of health after assessing our level of preparedness and as we approach the homestretch, we have re-doubled our efforts to complete any outstanding work,” she said.

The build-up to the 2017 World Under-18 Championships saw a host of counties pull out of the competition citing security concerns and Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jackson Tuwei is expecting an increase in the participating nations.

“In 2017 some countries withdrew at the last minute. This time round we want to have the maximum number of countries attending the event. The global body has got 214 countries and our aim is to have of them take part,” said Tuwei.