Players and staff members involved in the restart of the the NBA season will undergo coronavirus testing every other day before heading to Orlando, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
The league sent a memo Saturday night to the 22 teams involved in the restart, informing them that testing will begin June 23 for players and “essential team staff,” which includes coaches, trainers and medical personnel who work directly with players. They will be given both a COVID-19 test and an antibody test. After being tested for the coronavirus every other day, those individuals will be tested daily during the two days directly before they leave for Orlando.
Although the memo doesn’t specify which form of testing will be employed, ESPN’s Zach Lowe tweets that it will be a nasal swab that is less invasive than the one that has been in common use. The memo also doesn’t outline a protocol for anyone who tests positive for the virus or explain the testing procedure once teams arrive at the Walt Disney World complex, according to Bontemps.
Quest Diagnostics, which is partnering with the league to provide testing, has assured the NBA that these tests won’t affect the ability of health care workers, first responders and symptomatic patients in each team’s city to get the tests they need. The NBA plans to provide free testing for the public in each of the 21 cities with teams participating in the restart.
The league hopes to fund a study at the Yale School of Public Health that will support validation of a saliva-based coronavirus test and could aid the development of a test for the public that would be fast, cost effective and noninvasive, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Great that the NBA is providing testing for free in all 21 cities. Will keep the “not enough tests” crowd off their ass
There are more than enough tests available right now for everyone who wants one. Now plenty of people don’t want to be tested and without symptoms can’t be forced to, but pretty much anyone wanting to be tested currently can
Is the NBA restart really worth chewing up COVID-19 test kits and lab resources on players/coaches every other day? Those resources should be conserved and used on those who REALLY need them.
We’re talking about 400-500 people being tested. Not millions.
Why test for antibodies so frequently?– what would be done with the results? It tells about the past, not the present… And the past won’t change once it’s tested.
Testing for free in 21 cities… well doesn’t that cover it all.
What kind of promise is that.
I agree that the players should be protected but if the only way to be protected is to test every other day when communities are crying out for tests, maybe restarting the league isn’t such a good idea.