NBA announces COVID-19 tests: 48 are positive

Forty-eight NBA players out of 546 tested positive for COVID-19 in the first batch of testing for players who returned to their home market the week of Nov. 24-30, the league and the National Basketball Players Association said Wednesday in a release.

That’s an 8.7% positivity rate, slightly less than the 10.2% seven-day average for the U.S., per John Hopkins’ COVID-19 data-tracking website.

“Anyone who has returned a confirmed positive test during this initial phase of testing in their team’s market is isolated until they are cleared for leaving isolation under the rules established by the NBA and the Players Association in accordance with CDC guidance,” the NBA and NBPA said.

The league expected some positive tests as players began league-mandated testing for the first time since the bubble restart in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. For comparison, the NBA had a 5.3% positivity rate when players reported to their home market just before the 2019-20 restart in June.

The NBA also expects the positivity rate to decline as players adhere to the rigorous health and safety protocols for the 2020-21 season.

The league said in its health and safety protocols that it is likely some players and staffers will test positive “particularly as the virus remains prevalent in particular team markets and surrounding communities. The occurrence of independent cases (i.e., cases not spread among players or team staff ) or a small or otherwise expected number of COVID-19 cases will not require a decision to suspend or cancel the 2020-21 season,” the NBA said in the 134-page document.