The NBA has been hit hard by the recent spike in positive COVID-19 tests. Players are landing in the league’s health and safety protocols daily as some teams are left scrambling to find enough players to remain eligible to play their games.
Hoping to keep from having to postpone more games, the NBA announced some updates to their protocols. Now, players who test positive for COVID-19 will have a chance to get back onto the court sooner.
“The biggest change: Isolation periods for players who test positive may now be significantly shortened — down to six days from what has been the customary 10 —provided those players are asymptomatic and meet other testing standards. Teams were told of the new protocols Monday in a memo sent by the league, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.”
In addition to the changes, players can still test out of protocols if they return two negative tests 24 hours apart.
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That memo was sent to NBA teams on the same day that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released their own update, cutting the restriction for Americans who test positive from 10 to five days.
There have been 214 players placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols through Monday. 170 of those players have landed in protocols in December, along with all six head coaches that have tested positive.
This past Sunday, there were 28 players placed in protocols, which surpassed the single-day season-high of 17 that was set originally on December 17th and 23rd. Monday was the 12th time out of the last 14 days there have been double-digit players testing positive.
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Just as the case was following Thanksgiving, players traveling to see family for Christmas was a cause for concern. There have already been 541 different players to have appeared in a game this season, the most in NBA history.
That is a number that will undoubtedly continue to climb as players are going into protocols at an alarming rate. While the new set of rules will shorten the amount of time they are away from the teams, those organizations are still going to have to find players to replace them for however long they are sidelined.
