UPDATE after this was published: Opal APA and the national APA office have cancelled the tourney.
Last night I became aware of a situation that did not thrill me. I spent some time to roll it around before speaking up. I have a pretty good chance of bothering, agitating, or upsetting friends with my position on this.
APA is still holding their regional pool tournament at
Chinook Winds next month. Granted it is a month out, and situations can change.
We are talking about a large gathering of players. Players from
all over the area, including the Seattle area. Obviously, that does not mean
that they are sick. It just adds a little weight to odds and probabilities. A
significant number of the players fall into multiple risk categories.
With the incubation period being 4.5 to 5.8 days and
symptoms beginning between 8.2 to 15.6
days, we know that you can be incubating before becoming symptomatic [1]. Why
would we needlessly gather so many people who may be contagious? At what point
does working under disclaims give way to negligence?
The league has suspended the sportsmanship of handshakes before and after the matches which is a good thing with all things being considered. The players of the matches still share a crowded environment and the pool tables. One cannot sanitize the felt of the tables, and it is very unlikely that the side rails and balls would be sanitized between matches.
I do not question the league operators’ sincerity in their concern for the well being of the players, but I think that several factors may be interring with cancelling/postponing the event due to health risks. Of course, there are financial, reputation, and other issues to consider.
Using the fact that there have been no cases of coronavirus
in Lincoln county as justification for safety, seems silly to me. Especially
since very few people participating will be from Lincoln County. Yes, they have
the blessing of the tribe… of course the tribe wants people to fill the hall
and the tables, machines, and motel. While the tribe is somewhat sovereign and
can ignore the state’s attempts to protect the citizenry, they do have to
listen to the feds. We shall see if the feds come down with some protective
restrictions.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32150748