Happy New Year!

As we all know, the emergence of COVID-19 and its mutating variants has altered our everyday lives in countless ways. COVID-19 has forced many people to embrace diversity and creativity in all spheres of life: social, economic, personal wellness. The running stats say the severity of the COVID-19 infection depends on the individuals' initial health status. People with underlying conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases are prone to acute infections. Unfortunately, people with COVID-19 and with underlying health issues have been hospitalized in larger numbers as their immune system cannot easily fight this viral infection. A vaccine has been created to work with your DNA to help create the antibodies to combat the virus. There has been vaccine hesitancy by some and that has created a new controversy in the sports world. Most recently, the world’s number one seeded men’s tennis player, Novak Djokovi, was initially denied entry into Australia to participate in the Australian Open because of his lack of vaccination. Upon arrival, he was detained in a refugee detention centre until an Australian judge overruled the restriction several days later. Closer to home, basketball superstar Kyrie Irving has returned to his Brooklyn Nets team, but can only participate in cities who do not have vaccinated mandates. Currently, New York City has a vaccine mandate that as of 13 January disqualifies Irving from playing in “home” games.

Many case studies have determined that high levels of physical exercise such as cardiorespiratory fitness activities in most cases have higher immune levels. That aerobic and anaerobic activities will increase cardiorespiratory fitness, strength, and endurance. For our youth, we champion being physically active and we believe it help enhances children's immunity as well as their mental wellness. Research underpins that engaging in high-intensity physical activity enhances immunosuppression and mitigates the harmful effects of COVID-19 (da Silveira et al, 2021). Individuals that engage in moderate-intensity physical activity can combat the COVID-19 illness (Ranasinghe et al, 2020).

References

da Silveira, M. P., da Silva Fagundes, K. K., Bizuti, M. R., Starck, É., Rossi, R. C., & de Resende E Silva, D. T. (2021). Physical exercise as a tool to help the immune system against COVID-19: an integrative review of the current literature. Clinical and experimental medicine, 21(1), 15-28.

Ranasinghe, C., Ozemek, C., & Arena, R. (2020). Exercise and well-being during COVID 19–time to boost your immunity.