After more than a dozen Miami Marlins players tested positive for the coronavirus, games scheduled in Miami and Philadelphia, where the Marlins last played, were postponed.
While some may question the wisdom of hosting games, even without fans in the stands, the lessons sports leagues have learned so far about keeping players safe from the virus may be lessons for all of us.
Shorter seasons and playing in “bubbles” to control the spread are some of the ways that sports leagues have managed to keep playing during the pandemic.
The National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association keep their players in a bubble, a closed environment where participants live, practice, and play all games, similar to the strategy of staying home and avoiding people outside. from your own bubble.
“The 24 teams entered the safe zone in Edmonton and Toronto yesterday,” the NHL said in a statement Monday. “Each of the 52 members of the 24 teams (players and club staff) will be evaluated daily,” the NHL said in a statement Monday.
In the NBA, which has kept its players in a bubble at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, none of the 344 players evaluated since July 20 tested positive for the coronavirus, the league and the players union said Wednesday.
The NBA restarts its 2019-2020 season on Thursday at the resort near Orlando.
Outside of sport, a strict bubble may not be realistic for everyone, but it is crucial to limit contact with others outside your home as much as possible by avoiding crowded places like bars or even family gatherings.
The trackers also found that 23% of new Covid-19 cases had attended house parties and 21% at outdoor events, Hogan said at a news conference.
“The fundamental things of avoiding crowds, physical separation, the universal use of masks, the closure of bars, hand hygiene, those things matter and can make a difference. So I hope that we appreciate it and do it in one very strictly, “Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Monday.
Smaller is better
However, bubbles are not feasible for sports like baseball due to the size of teams, according to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
“We would have had to have multiple locations probably just to have enough facilities to make it work, the number of people involved and the number of people to support the number of players was much, much higher in our sport,” said Manfred Red MLB.
“I think the NBA and NHL have an advantage: fewer players, a shorter period of time,” said Manfred. “I understand why they did what they did. I’m just not sure it was feasible for us.”
The close-up and contact nature of playing basketball makes the bubble even more necessary.
“When we were discussing what kind of protocols would be for the best safety precautions for baseball players, there was a certain set of things that were done. That will be a little bit different when talking about a much more sport contact,” Fauci told CNN on Monday.
Healthy young people are not necessarily immune
With the number of youth driving the increase in Covid-19 cases in many areas of the country, another lesson from these athletes stands out: the virus does not discriminate and infect even young, fit and healthy athletes.
The Marlins’ example is also a reminder of how fast and quiet the virus spreads. Within days, the team went from few positive tests to 17, according to ESPN.
And considering that the Miami team comes from one of the most important Covid-19 points in the country, it is a reminder that when traveling to or from a place where there are a large number of cases, following the guidelines of The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in self-isolation is a good idea.
Proof is key
Bubble or not, sports teams are illustrating the importance of testing. As the NHL said, it is testing every player, every day.
Just before leaving to play in the tournament in Utah, six players and four Orlando Pride staff members tested positive for the virus. The team withdrew and the tournament continued, with no further reported cases. Without those tests, many more players and staff could have been infected.
More than six months since the virus was discovered, much remains unknown. There is no cure or vaccine. What is certain, health experts say, is that social distancing and wearing a mask offer the best protection for now.
“We are not powerless,” CDC Director Robert Redfield told ABC on Tuesday. “We have the most powerful weapon in our hands right now. I mean, it’s an enormously powerful weapon. It’s just a simple and flimsy mask.”
“This virus can be defeated if people simply wear a mask.”
CNN’s Allen Kim, Wayne Sterling, Shelby Lin Erdman, Maggie Fox and Jennifer Henderson contributed to this report.
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