NBA CONFIRMS 9 NEW POSITIVE TESTS
Nine new NBA players have the coronavirus after the latest round of widespread testing, the league announced Thursday.
The positive results were from tests administered between June 24-29, bringing the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases among NBA players to 25 out of 351. The other 16 positives were from the previous week.
The NBA also tested 884 members of team staff between June 23-29, and 10 came back positive for a 1.1% infection rate.
The tests are part of the NBA’s plan to restart its season this month in Orlando, and the rate of 7% positives for players can be viewed as encouraging and manageable.
The MLS restart developed more of a conundrum when nine players on one team (FC Dallas) tested positive after arriving in Orlando. College football programs, such as Clemson, have also had a higher rate of positive tests.
Two of the new NBA positive tests came from the Nets since both DeAndre Jordan and Spencer Dinwiddie announced their status. Jordan opted out of playing in Orlando, while Dinwiddie, who said he’s experiencing symptoms such as fever and chest tightness, is on the fence.
Dinwiddie would have to test negative twice before joining the bubble. The Nets leave on Tuesday.
The NBA established a comprehensive protocol for players who test positive in Orlando, including a requirement for those individuals to be transferred to “Isolation Housing.” The requirement for leaving isolation is testing negative twice in a span of over 24 hours. They will also have to be symptom-free for two weeks before becoming eligible to return to play.
Although New York has largely quelled an outbreak that peaked in April, Florida is experiencing a massive surge in COVID-19 cases and smaller rise in deaths. That certainly adds to the chances of an outbreak inside the bubble.
“One thing we are learning about this virus is much (is) unpredictable, and we and our players together with their union look at the data on a daily basis,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “If there were something to change that was outside of the scope of what we are playing for, certainly we would revisit our plans.
“We are testing daily. We haven’t put a precise number on it, but if we were to see a large number of cases and see spread in our community, that would of course be a cause to stop as well.”