Travel plans to be determined as cases spike in Florida
Team not sure when it will go, but hopes to have an answer by this afternoon
When the decision was made to postpone the Vancouver Whitecaps’ trip to Orlando on Canada Day, it was followed by a phone call. And another. And another.
A few “inconclusive results” in COVID -19 testing delayed the Major League Soccer team’s flight to Florida, where they were set to start training ahead of the MLS is Back Tournament. The team cancelled its charter, stayed in Vancouver, and underwent another series of tests Thursday.
Complicating matters was the state of their opponent in their opening game — FC Dallas — which had its number of positive novel coronavirus tests increase to 10 members of their delegation on Wednesday.
Whitecaps sporting director and CEO Axel Schuster and his staff have spent the last 48 hours on the phone with the MLS head office, the league’s medical department, local infectious disease experts, MLS marketing executives and operations on the ground in Orlando.
“I’m very happy I don’t have to sort out all of these problems,” Schuster said, laughing. “We spoke with so many guys in the last few days. I have the feeling that there’s no one left in the office (who we haven’t spoken to).”
There was a lot of talk, but as of yet, no clear answers. The team isn’t sure when it will travel to Florida, but hopes to have an answer by Friday afternoon.
On Thursday, Florida set another record for positive COVID-19 tests — 10,109 — cracking five digits in 24 hours for the first time. That’s more than any European country had at the peak of their outbreaks, and Florida is merely a state of 21 million people.
Inside the MLS “biodome” at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the results are mirroring the outside world.
The Toros’ spike in positive tests has the entire team quarantined, while the Columbus Crew also had a player test positive on Wednesday, pushing the total number of cases in the complex to 10 players and seven staff members.
“We have to get some more answers about the situation with Dallas,” Schuster said of the team the Whitecaps are scheduled to play on July 9.
“The league has promised to come back with some more answers, that we will discuss these answers again with all local health authorities. The league is looking at that very carefully, and they have not made their final decision about that.
“If you were to ask me ‘Are you 100 per cent sure you play next week?’ I would say no, but within the next two weeks, yes.”
Players on all the teams have been tested regularly, with the Toros getting tested before they left Dallas on Sunday and getting tested again immediately upon arrival. Two of their confirmed cases came soon after they landed.
The Crew arrived in Florida on Sunday, but their positive test didn’t surface until Wednesday.
Whether this is because of the incubation period of the virus, or if the player was infected in Orlando, is still unclear.
The tests done just before MLS teams leave their home cities, and all subsequent tests, are conducted by an American company. Up to this point, the Whitecaps have been utilizing a Canadian company for that service.
MLS protocol is for tests every other day for the first two weeks, followed by tests before games for players, staff and officials once competition starts.
Schuster didn’t think there was any flaw with the testing, but that the positive tests were more likely the result of the COVID -19 incubation period, which can fool testing with a low viral load before seeing rapid growth.
“We had new testing this morning, and we will get the results tonight,” Schuster said Thursday.
“But there are a lot of reasons to feel very confident that everything stays negative … you just have to look at the situation in our community. It is very unlikely that somebody gets infected while we are still here.”
The Whitecaps aren’t the only Canadian team yet to depart for Florida. Montreal arrived in Florida on Thursday, but Toronto FC is supposed to fly out Friday, a week ahead of its opener with DC United. There is a growing sense of apprehension in the organization’s ranks.
“There’s concern, no doubt,” head coach Greg Vanney told The Canadian Press. “Because it’s showing that the (MLS) bubble is not impenetrable and there are some issues that are going on. The question is how quickly can the protocols that are in place down there get things under control so it doesn’t start to spread inside of the bubble. That remains to be seen.”
Vanney wanted to delay his team’s departure, adding “it just makes sense ... that we don’t go barrelling down right now until they know that they have everything under control.”
The NBA plans to restart its season at the end of July, but the COVID-19 numbers there have league commissioner Adam Silver issuing caveats to the plan, saying there is a threshold that the pandemic numbers could cross that would lead to them cancelling the season.
Schuster has concerns, but has faith in the extensive safety planning and protocols the league has put in place. The Swan and Dolphin Hotel in the Disney Complex has separate floors for each team, including lounges for players and coaches, dining rooms and shared gym spaces that are disinfected after each team’s scheduled use.
“We’re really not going to Florida, in our minds. We’re going into a bubble, we are going into one resort that is closed. And we’re staying in this bubble on our floor,” he said. “We are not going to the beaches. We are not going into bars. We are not going into a grocery store or whatever. We are going into one facility that is totally closed.
“And of course, we have to know how to behave in that bubble, but I still think that is a safe environment for us. I don’t see something coming that really leads to the cancellation of the whole tournament.”