The NFL and its players have agreed on the testing aspect of their COVID-19 safety protocol as the training camps will open in the next two weeks.
Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s medical director, said the agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association would require daily testing of COVID-19 during the first two weeks of training camp. After two weeks, if the positive test rate is less than 5%, the league would escalate to testing every other day. If the positive test rate is not less than 5%, they will continue the daily test until such time as it falls below that number.
If at any time during training camp the positivity rate increases to 5% or more, that would cause a return to daily testing.
“This is a work in progress,” Sills said. “There is no goal line with health and safety, and I think these protocols are living, breathable documents, which means they will change as we get new information. They will certainly change over time, which is what we generally do. we see in medicine. “
Upon arriving at the team premises for the first time, team players and employees will be required to test negative twice before they are allowed to enter. Basically, you show up on day 1, take an exam, go home, and then you show up on day 2, take an exam, go home, and if both are negative, you can go into the building and get to work.
“We recognize that as players, coaches and staff come in, they will come from across the country and, in some cases, the world,” Sills said. “So we want to take a slow approach here.”
Sills said the evaluation rules, and the 5% threshold, would apply to all Level 1 and Level 2 employees throughout the league. A June 7 memo sent to teams by the league defined Level 1 employees as all players and necessary personnel who must have direct access to the players. He defined Level 2 as “other essential personnel who may need to be near Level 1 players and others and who may need to access restricted areas.”
Sills also said the league’s expectation is that the test results will return within 24 hours. The NFL has contracted with BioReference Laboratories to handle its tests and has said several times in recent months that it wants to remain responsible for not taking a very high share of the tests available in any of its markets.
“Any decision we make, whether it’s about testing or testing or treatment or games, we want to make sure we don’t have a negative impact on the public health situation,” Sills said. “That is very true when it comes to testing. We have had continuous and extensive discussions with multiple parties on that topic. And we have discussed extensively with our test provider to make sure we do not have a negative impact on their business.” “
The deal reflects a compromise between the players, who had been pushing for daily testing as a condition of returning to work, and the owners, who had proposed testing every other day.
The league and union were in negotiations Sunday night on other issues, including the number of preseason games, details of the acclimatization period players will have once they report to camp, and procedural-related issues. Exclusion for players who are not comfortable playing during the pandemic or have a medical problem that would make it too risky for them to do so.
The NFL has already canceled two of its four preseason weeks, but the players have called for all preseason games to be canceled this year. The players have also proposed a period of acclimatization to the training camp that would limit the first 21 days to strength and conditioning work only, the next 10 days to no-fill practices and then work in contact for the last 14 days. NFLPA President JC Tretter said in a conference call Friday that the plan was the recommendation of jointly appointed medical experts, and that the union is clearly upset that the league has not agreed to adopt it.
“The recommendations of that group have informed the discussions,” Sills said Sunday. “The exact way it will look will depend on many factors, including the general timetable and the combined agreement between the two parties. As I understand it, that is still being discussed. But I think there is an understanding that we will have to do some things differently. “
Another ongoing discussion point is the individual teams’ IDER (Response to Infectious Disease Emergencies) plans. The NFLPA has reviewed some, but not all, of those plans, and sources say it has expressed concern about the level of detail in some of the plans, which cover issues such as how to handle a positive test and how to isolate an individual who exhibits symptoms of COVID-19. Sills said Sunday that he and the league’s infectious disease experts have reviewed the IDER plans of the 32 teams.
“I have approved all of that and I am very proud of the effort that the clubs have put into those plans,” Sills said. They are incredibly detailed and it shows that our clubs have dedicated many, many hours to these decisions. “
Sills echoed the sentiments of NFLPA officials who spoke to members of the Pro Football Writers of America on Friday when he emphasized that the tests alone would not be enough to protect everyone against transmission of the virus. If the NFL and its players union have agreed on anything throughout this process, it’s the message about the importance of players and team personnel being as responsible as possible in their behaviors and interactions when they are out of team facilities.
“While everyone shares risks in this environment, everyone will have to share the responsibility, both when they are in the team’s facilities and when they are outside the team’s facilities, to make decisions and model those behaviors related to risk mitigation”, Sills said. “We won’t be able to test our way to safety. The way we conduct ourselves off-site, all of those things will be really important as we progress through the season.”
The Houston Texans rookies and the Kansas City Chiefs are slated to perform on Monday, and the full team submission date for most teams is July 28.
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