Twenty percent of Major League Baseball teams have been forced to postpone games on Friday night due to positive tests for coronavirus.
The sport has returned for just over a week and Friday’s games between the Washington Nationals and the Miami Marlins, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays and the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals were postponed due to the coronavirus.
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MLB Network and others reported that the last postponement was the game between the Brewers and Cardinals. It would have been the Brewers’ opening game at Miller Park. According to the report, the Cardinals were the team with positive tests and chose to quarantine at their team’s hotel.
It is unclear whether the entire weekend series will be postponed. MLB has yet to make Friday’s postponement official.
The Marlins’ outbreak sparked alarm throughout the sport on Sunday when four players tested positive for the coronavirus. As the week progressed, 17 players and coaches reportedly contracted the virus. MLB put its season on hold due to the outbreak.
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The Phillies, who were playing against the Marlins last weekend, had two employees who tested positive for the virus, forcing them to postpone their series against the Blue Jays. The Phillies had a series against the New York Yankees postponed earlier this week.
MLB released a statement on the Marlins issue on Monday.
“The health and safety protocols were designed with a challenging circumstance like that faced by the Marlins in mind. The response described in the joint MLB-MLBPA Operations Manual was immediately triggered upon learning of the cluster of positive cases, including contact tracing and the quarantine and evidence of all identified close contacts. The positive Marlins staff have been placed in isolation and are receiving care, “MLB said in a statement.
The statement continued: “In more than 6,400 tests conducted since Friday, July 24, there have been no new positive aspects of the staff on the field for any of the other 29 clubs. This result is in line with encouraging overall data since the beginning of the June 27, As of last Thursday, July 23, 99 of the 32,640 samples – 0.3% – had been positive.
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“The difficult circumstances of a Club reinforce the vital need to be diligent with protocols in every way, both on and off the field,” the league wrote. “We will continue to strengthen our protocols and make the necessary adjustments. The realities of the virus remain important, and we must operate with that in mind every day. We trust that Clubs and players will act appropriately, for themselves and for others. , and the data provides reason to believe that protocols can work effectively. “
