With the coronavirus recently hitting the United States, the country’s professional sports leagues are doing what they can to prevent the virus from spreading to its players, staff and fans. The NBA is no exception, as the league is taking all the preventive measures to stop the virus from spreading.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the NBA has mandated all 30 franchises to have their own coronavirus guidelines by March 10.
Moreover, the guidelines should cover an arrangement with an infectious disease specialist, a facility that could conduct testing and a plan to limit arena staff. Teams have also been encouraged to limit their traveling party.
NBA has informed teams that all should have guidelines for coronavirus in place by March 10, such as:
– Arrangement with infectious disease specialist
– Facility that could conduct testing
– Plan to limit team and arena staffTeams also encouraged to limit traveling party.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 8, 2020
On the other hand, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, NBA team doctors and trainers are set to have a conference call on Monday to discuss the next steps regarding the virus.
The league has also considered shutting off dressing room access to media and forcing media availability to be moved to designated areas. Additionally, the NBA has thought about the possibility of having to play games without fans in attendance, which has been very unpopular among players like Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
According to the New York Times, the global number of confirmed coronavirus cases has reached over 100,000 with over 3,400 deaths. As for the U.S., the country currently, as of writing, has 387 cases across 28 different states and at least 19 confirmed deaths.
Follow Us
Subscribe