The Phillies announced today that a member of the coaching staff and a member of the clubhouse staff have tested positive for COVID-19. Neither player registered positive tests. The club has canceled its scheduled workouts indefinitely.
While it’s obviously possible that these infections occurred elsewhere, it’s impossible to ignore the possibility that they occurred during the series last weekend with a Marlins club that is now plagued by coronavirus infections. The virus was expected to have been contained in the Miami organization.
The plan had been for the Phillies to resume play on Saturday. It is not known if that is now in jeopardy. The organization has already dealt with a few infections earlier this year, but managed to prevent further spread within the club.
This is disturbing news on several levels. First of all, it is troubling to see two more people in the game carrying this disease. Hopefully they will both make a quick and full recovery.
Beyond that, it’s obviously troubling to see that the spread (presumably) occurred between the teams. Fortunately, the Phillies have had no further contact with other organizations since the series against the Marlins. But it seems quite possible that other members of the Phillies organization may still harbor infections that have yet to elicit positive evidence. It is also hypothetically possible that the transmission could have occurred from the coach and staff member to others, although one would expect the team to have exercised strict caution in recent days.
