Those who wish to play 5-on-5 basketball will have to wait until the quarantine is lifted entirely.

The Philippine Sports Institute on Wednesday released a document outlining the type of activities that will be allowed depending on the type of quarantine in place.

Using basketball as an example, players are barred from hitting a public court unless their area is under general community quarantine (GCQ). Even then, only one person is allowed to use the court.

In the more relaxed modified GCQ, person-to-person interaction will be permitted, although physical distancing must still be observed.

In this classification, skills training and individual drills can be done as a group but with participants situated apart.

Full-contact games that players are accustomed to will return only when any form of quarantine is lifted.

Here is the sample matrix for basketball:

The PSI, which reports to the Philippine Sports Commission, posted the document, titled “Framework Tool for Reintroducing Sport in a COVID-19 Environment” on the PSC’s Facebook account Wednesday.

According to the PSI, the guidelines mentioned in the document are based on information culled from the Department of Health and the Inter-Agency Task Force in charge of monitoring the status of coronavirus in the country.

On the page covering activity recommendations, person-to-person interactions (PPIs) are OK only during the “new normal,” or when there isn’t a quarantine in place.

PPIs aren’t allowed on four other quarantine levels — ECQ, modified ECQ (MECQ), GCQ or modified GCQ (MGCQ), although interactions can be loosened in GECQ.

Based on the matrix, ECQ and MECQ are deemed high-risk areas, GCQ and MGCQ are moderately risky, and an area classified as “new normal” or without a quarantine in place is low risk.

Under MECQ, people can work out outdoors in public as long as they use their own equipment and remain within the vicinity of their home.

Sample activities include badminton, biking in remote locations, individual runs on enclosed public streets, and open-water swimming.

In a GCQ area, that scope is expanded to include public spaces such as barangays halls — zumbas will be permitted — open parks, and swimming pools.

In the further relaxed MGCQ, public equipment can be used in indoor public spaces, such as commercial sports facilities, and PPIs could be loosened.

In this scenario, the following will be allowed:

• Individual gym workouts using own equipment
• Sparring using equipment such as the heavy bag, the speed bag, etc.)
• In baseball, batting and fielding practice
• Practice for solo sports, such as gymnastics

Once the quarantine is lifted, organized leagues and tournaments will be permitted again.

According to the document, quarantine assignments could swing either way, depending on the number of virus infections in an area.

“Resumption of sporting activity may not be linear.
Fluctuating restrictions may be required in response to community numbers of COVID-19 cases,” the document said.

“Sporting stakeholders may need to be flexible to accommodate and respond to changes in coummunity transmission rates and the associated changes in advice from our government experts.

“The pandemic doesn’t have a precise playbook.”

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