The wages of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt by the league after new positive cases have emerged recently. A practice squad player of the Chicago Bears and a strength and conditioning coach of the Kansas City Chiefs were confirmed to be the latest casualties. Contact tracing is already ongoing, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
There are no new positives in Tennessee nor New England, but there are now two other positive tests: one for a practice squad player in Chicago, but Bears have been closed since Thursday night, and a strength and conditioning coach in Kansas City, per source. Tracing is ongoing.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 10, 2020
The first COVID-19 outbreak occurred after the Tennessee Titans' Week 3 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. The Titans' camp eventually reached double-digit positive cases which forced the team to shut down its training facility for multiple days.
The developments resulted in a postponement of their Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers which gave both teams an earlier bye week. On the other hand, the Vikings were spared from the virus and eventually pushed through with their game against the Houston Texans to which they earned their first victory of the season via a 31-23 outcome.
The New England Patriots were also hit with the virus after top players in quarterback Cam Newton and cornerback Stephon Gilmore both tested positive for COVID-19. The reigning Super Bowl champions were also not spared as their practice player in gunslinger Jordan Ta'amu previously contracted the virus. After a series of tests to which the results came out to be negative, the matchup between the two teams pushed through where the Chiefs won, 26-10.
There has been no word yet if the upcoming games of the Bears and the Chiefs will be rescheduled due to the latest developments. The former is slated to visit the Carolina Panthers for Week 6 proceedings on October 18 while the latter is scheduled to host the Las Vegas Raiders in a Week 5 encounter on October 11.