What is Coronavirus – COVID-19?

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.  

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. 

Source of information: the World Health Organization website

How to stay safe from Coronavirus?

The World Health Organization urges us to follow these rules:

1. Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. This will help kill the viruses that may be on your hands.

2. Maintain at least 1 meter (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain the virus.

3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth.

4. Cover your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.

5. If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early. National and local authorities will have the most up to date information on the situation in your area. Calling in advance will allow your health care provider to quickly direct you to the right health facility. This will also protect you and help prevent the spread of viruses and other infections.

How can dancers stay safe?

Taking into consideration the pieces of advice from the World Health Organization, we should limit the interaction with other people. But how can we do that? Dancing is based on interaction and it’s our life!

The most responsible thing to do in order to help at the eradication of this virus is to stay at home as much as possible. You can still try and practice in your home if you have enough space. If, you don’t have much space you can focus on micro-movements. 

Furthermore, you can shift your attention towards self-education by watching videos of your favorite dancers on YouTube or study from the online courses and camp lectures that we have on Dancesportlife Academy.  

The entire community of dancers is taking measures to help prevent and eradicate the coronavirus and you can also read on danceplace.com the importance of social distancing.

How is Coronavirus affecting the dancesport world?

The spread of COVID-19 – Coronavirus – developed into a pandemic, which means that the epidemy has spread all over the world. This has laid a veil of sadness and panic over us all.

Many governments all around the world have banned gatherings of more than 1000, 100 and even 50, which obviously had an impact on the arts and sports fields. For example, in the United States, the NBA canceled all the events and the Champions League is suspended. Furthermore, many presidents have declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.

Dancesport events are not excluded from the measures and both dance federations – WDSF & WDC – are starting to announce cancelations of important events. Postponing or canceling the events are decisions made by the local organizers, based on recommendations and measures taken by their national governments. 

What events are canceled?

WDSF

The WDSF is already trying to identify potential dates for the 2nd half of the year to postpone the Grand Slam and Title events. Recent changes in the WDSF Competition Calendar are:

• WDSF GrandSlam and WDSF Open in Bucharest (ROM) on March 28-29th
• WDSF European Youth Latin Championship, WDSF International Open, and WDSF Open in Marseilles, (FRA) on April 4th
• WDSF World Open NS and WDSF Open, in Moscow (RUS) on April 4th-5th. (These will be re-scheduled to take place in Sochi on June 24-27, 2020).

Keep on track with the news on https://www.worlddancesport.org/ 

WDC

The WDC is also showing responsible conduct by canceling events and the President of the council – Donnie Burns MBE – shared a visibly emotional message to the dancing world.