EJ Obiena assures he is safe in Italy amid COVID-19 lockdown

Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena assured that he is safe in Italy amid the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In Chino Trinidad's report for "24 Oras," he talked about his situation in Formia, Italy as the epicenter of the pandemic moved to Europe.

The 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist said he underwent testing for COVID-19 as the Italian government implemented measures to protect the residents.

"I would say I'm on a safe place," Obiena said. "The training center is very strict. To be honest, nobody goes in anymore other than the athletes. They're testing us every day, like they're checking our temperature."

As of Monday, Italy has 59,138 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 5,476 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Obiena is the first Filipino to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after clearing 5.81m in a competition in Italy last year.

The Olympiad, however, could be postponed to next year as the International Olympic Committee moves to assess the global health crisis.

"It's a lot bigger than sports. We hope everything falls into place and we hope that Olympics pushes through," said the pole vaulter.  "But at the same time we gotta accept the fact that there's a really big chance it's not gonna happen this year."

Obiena broke the Southeast Asian Games record in December to dominate men's pole vault in the region. --MGP, GMA News