Since arriving at the MLS is Back tournament in Orlando on June 27, 11 FC Dallas players and staff have tested positive for COVID-19. At the end of the week, 14 players, including one from the Columbus Crew, and two non-players had tested positive.
Even as more teams arrive each day, several clubs (such as Toronto FC and Colorado Rapids) have delayed their arrival dates, and all of this has been seen in a context of vertiginous cases in Central Florida. According to the Florida Department of Health on Saturday, the number of new cases for Florida residents in Orange County, where the Swan and Dolphin Resort is located, and where the MLS delegation is staying, was 1,166 and the Positive testing percentage remains double-digit, with Saturday’s mark at 15.5%. In neighboring Osceola County, where the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is located, the number of new cases was 255, a peak in the past two weeks. Saturday’s positive test rate was 19.5%.
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– The group schedule established for MLS is the Tournament Back
The league has kept some positive, but undesirable, tests as long as expected. However, the reality of the situation has caused many people to stop, even when 1,191 people in the MLS delegation have been evaluated in the last two days, with two positive tests.
As one person from the MLS delegation said, “I really would like to go home now.”
All this has served to raise and re-ask several questions. Should Dallas be eliminated from the tournament? Should the tournament go ahead? If so, how safe will it be? MLS is convinced that it is doing its best.
“In consultation with infectious disease experts and government health authorities, MLS developed comprehensive health and safety protocols that include pre-trip testing, as well as isolation upon arrival until additional screening tests have been completed,” said the deputy commissioner and president of MLS, Mark Abbott. “These protocols have led to the early identification and isolation of infected people who likely contracted the virus before traveling. These people were immediately identified and separated from other tournament participants and staff, so that they can receive care and ensure that we minimize risk of transmission to other participants “.
To your credit, MLS has been transparent about its programs and protocols. MLS staff inside the bubble are tested every other day. If an individual tests positive, they will be quickly isolated until authorized by a medical professional. Contact tracking is done to see who else might be at risk, with more people quarantined.
“As long as you have systems in place to assess and isolate people with cases so that the disease doesn’t spread, I think you’re doing the right thing,” said Sandro Galea, an epidemiologist and dean of the Boston University Faculty. Public health.
There are holes in Orlando’s “bubble”, though not as many as previously thought. Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN that about 90% of the staff at the Swan and Dolphin hotels (which is managed by Marriott) are regularly tested, though the sources did not disclose how often. The same applies to 100% of transportation personnel. A source added that 10% of those who are not being tested would rarely, if ever, contact a member of the MLS delegation.
That differs significantly from what is detailed in the handbook given to players prior to their arrival, in which it said hotel workers and Disney cast members were not being evaluated for COVID-19. (Editor’s note: ESPN is owned by Walt Disney Co.) That change was negotiated before the first teams arrived in Orlando. People who are not being evaluated will receive temperature controls, complete questionnaires, and must wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
2:35
ESPN’s Stefano Fusaro reports that the mood in the MLS is Back Tournament after a game needed to be postponed.
As promising as that development is, it now appears that there is greater potential for asymptomatic people on the arriving teams to bring the virus to the bubble. The physical nature of soccer exacerbates the possibility of spread.
“Soccer is a sport in which there is close contact between people, strong exhalation for long periods of time and close physical contact.” said Abraar Karan, a physician at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital who is working on the COVID-19 response in Massachusetts. “That’s a setup for the broadcast. So while football is lower risk than basketball, which is indoors and there is more close contact, it is still high risk as players get closer to each other.”
The situation in Orlando has also highlighted the limits of testing, even though it remains a cornerstone of the league’s plan.
In both the Dallas and Columbus cases, all members of the tour group tested negative before leaving for Florida. The issue of false positives has also come up in recent weeks, especially regarding the NWSL side Orlando Pride, who had to withdraw from the league comeback tournament to play in Utah. Minnesota United also had a false positive test. But Karan says that a bigger problem is false negatives, by which an individual is infected, but for whom the viral load is not large enough to record a positive result. He cited a recent CDC study of a Louisiana correctional facility in which 36% of people who initially tested negative ended up positive four days later.
“The window through which people transmit to other people, and then those people start to have symptoms or start to grow the virus, can be staggered,” Karan said.
Galea did not come to call what Dallas is experiencing an outbreak, referring to it as a “pool” of cases. As for whether Dallas should be removed from the competition or whether the competition should be canceled entirely, Galea said he did not have enough information to respond, although he expressed confidence in the league setup.
“While [MLS is] On top of that, they presumably have the data they need to make decisions, “he said.
Karan says he is biased to some extent given that he has seen and treated patients who died from COVID-19. Even those who do recover, some have persistent debilitating effects. That explains, in part, why he fell firmly on the side of the argument that the tournament should not go forward. He saw the league’s stance not to consider Plan B or cancel the tournament as “reckless” given the amount of positive evidence Dallas has had, even amid attempts to make training and life within the bubble as safe as possible.
“If you go to a tournament knowing [about Dallas], you are denying if you are saying that the tournament can be magically safe in some way, “he said.
“You are actually moving people and interacting with more people. Basically you are saying ‘we know this is dangerous. We know that our players are testing positive. We know that we are putting them in high risk situations where they’ are in close contact with each other and However, we expect a different result. ‘There is no science there. There is no logic there. “
1:18
Taylor Twellman outlines concerns around COVID-19 testing and the MLS is Back Tournament.
Both Galea and Karan agreed that if there is a proven case of community spread of the virus within the bubble, that would raise any concerns they have to a much higher level. No bubble is impregnable, but such a scenario would further erode the feeling that the bubble is secure enough.
MLS, for its part, insists that canceling the tournament is not an option. In his opinion, the protocols are working. There is also no single objective measure, such as a predetermined number of positive cases, that would compel them to cancel the tournament. If there is a case of community spread within the bubble, the league will consult with its medical advisors on next steps.
“My opinion is this: Is it worth putting the health of players at stake while we are still trying to figure out all the details of this virus and control transmission?” Karan says. “In so many states in this country, their epidemics are completely uncontrollable right now. They will have to take extreme measures to control all of this.”
“I love sports. I want [them] back as much as anyone. But I can’t say with good conscience that it’s safe for players to know that so many people are testing positive and that sports are going to be high risk for the most part. “
1:25
Tyler Miller says he and his teammates are very careful about the recent increase in Covid-19 cases in Orlando.
The MLS has shown flexibility in the Dallas case, postponing its first game with Vancouver that was originally scheduled for July 9. The league has not said what scenario would get Dallas out of the tournament, but obviously if CDF has a hard time putting a team on the field, the league should consider it.
The MLS Players Association (MLSPA) has a field presence in the form of Executive Director Bob Foose, who is monitoring the situation and has been in close consultation with league leadership and players, but has not yet publicly commented on the positive tests. However, players have been talking, particularly those who consider themselves to be at increased risk of contracting COVID-19. Columbus goalkeeper Matt Lampson, a cancer survivor, took to Twitter to voice his concerns.
The next few days before the opening of the tournament on July 8 between Orlando City SC and Inter Miami CF (See LIVE on ESPN, 8 pm ET) It could reveal a lot about comfort levels around this competition. If the positive tests decrease, MLS will be on firmer ground.
Seven teams have yet to arrive in Central Florida; For now, MLS is confident that the news will improve.
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