The Perlas Spikers management and team captain Jem Ferrer issued separate statements on Monday evening regarding the alleged COVID-19 outbreak inside the team’s bubble in Baguio.
Tiebreaker Times reported earlier in the day that seven players and one coach contracted the virus to which the team did not deny.
“The Perlas Spikers, the first standalone volleyball club in the Philippines, has been fortunate enough to have been welcomed by the Local Government Unit of Baguio City into the Summer Capital of the Philippines for the last leg of our preparations for the forthcoming PVL Open Conference,” the club owned by Charo Soriano said in a statement.
“Our training camp began on the 30th of May with a team of excited and joyful athletes, and determined coaches, as we look forward to the day we finally get to play again the sport we were prevented from participating in due to the worldwide pandemic. Baguio was an obvious choice as a high altitude training has proven time and again beneficial for athletes for increased aerobic capacity and oxygen flow to the muscles,” it continued.
“All these opportunities were never lost on any of the members of the team.”
The team has been following a hotel-venue-home path with the practices taking place in St. Vincent Gym in Naguillan Road.
The month-long camp had the clearance of the Department of Health, the Games and Amusements Board, and Baguio’s local government unit, headed by Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
Ferrer debunked Magalong’s statement last Friday saying that they were in Teacher’s Camp and that players might have sneaked out of the camp that led to them carrying the virus.
“With In light of all the misinformation circulating in social media and the news about my team’s situation here in Baguio I would like to clarify the following: We are not billeted in Teacher’s Camp. The only places that we go to apart from our accommodation are our court training venue and our gym training,” Ferrer said.
“And with regard to the news that we snuck out of Teacher’s Camp that is 1,000% not true because number one, we are not staying there, and number two, in our accommodation there is a CCTV that monitors us 24/7 and that can prove that we do not go out of our gates except for court training and gym training as mentioned earlier.”
Ferrer assured that the remaining players and have been separated from the ones that have acquired the virus and that they are safe.
On the other hand, those who were tested positive are already in the quarantine facility and recovering from the virus.
Moreover, they assured that the people of Baguio that they have been strictly following the health and safety protocols that have been given to them.
“As a sign of respect and gratitude to the people of Baguio, the Perlas Spikers followed every single protocol. All members were accounted for at all times, and not one went anywhere other than where we were staying and our training venue, riding the bus provided by the LGU in between,” said the club.
“And we plan to continue following the protocols set by the RIATF, the LGU, and GAB until our last day here in Baguio.
“We ask for your prayers for the seven players and one coach who tested positive after taking RT-PCR tests. And as always, we look forward to playing volleyball again,” it closed.
