Matches rescheduled over COVID concerns

Two championship matches due to be played over the weekend were rescheduled for tomorrow evening (Wednesday) as a ‘precaution’ in this Covid-19 era.

Castlerahan were ready to get their Senior Championship defence underway against Shercock last Saturday evening; while in the Intermediate Championship opening round Arva and Ballinagh were set to play on Sunday afternoon.

No player has tested positive, but concerns arose around contact tracing, where individuals came into contact with someone who may have displayed Coronavirus symptoms.

“Two games were postponed at the weekend... it’s just a precautionary measure under the guidelines of the HSE, which were followed to the letter of the law in each of the cases," County Board PRO Susan Brady told theCelt.

“We have a Covid officer who is very proactive and, if there is an issue, he is contacted and every guideline is carried out to the letter of the law.”

Coronavirus has impacted on championships in counties Laois, Kildare and Tipperary, where players have either tested positive, shown symptoms or been in contact with someone displaying symptoms.

The Government cabinet were due to decide on whether to progress to phase four of the removal of restrictions yesterday. It initially intended to increase capacity for outdoor events to 500 had phase four proceeded in July, as originally planned.

This left clubs competing in the weekend’s Senior and Intermediate opening rounds having to decide how to allocate limited numbers of tickets.

Asked how Cavan GAA coped with the restricted capacity, Ms Brady replied “perfectly”.

Could they guarantee that they remained below the 200 mark?

“All guidelines worked successfully this weekend,” she said.