Several NFL teams canceling football activities due to COVID-19 testing ‘irregularities’
By Mark Powell
The NFL’s COVID-19 testing center in New Jersey has found ‘irregularities’ in their results across the league
In an act of extreme caution, several teams across the NFL are shutting down football operations until they get more information about flaws in the league’s testing center, which is based in New Jersey. Per BioReference, the NFL’s testing partner, several players have tested positive. For those NFL teams which do not receive testing results from BioReference’s New Jersey laboratory, they should be able to continue operations per usual, as they prepare for the regular season.
While scary from the outset, Sunday morning’s actions are a good test run for the league’s new COVID-19 regulations, which essentially require teams to shut down operations for fear of an outbreak.
https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1297530842676449280
The Browns were one of the teams sent home after taking their COVID-19 test
Per ESPN’s Josina Anderson, the Browns were just one of the teams sent home as a precaution. Players were told to take their COVID-19 test and immediately leave the facility, and were later filled in on the situation via Zoom call later Sunday morning.
A Browns source told me when reporting to the facility this am for a regular prax day, they were told to just take their CoVID test & go home until further notice. After that, staff & players were told on a zoom call w/t HC that several NFL teams may have problems w/test results.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) August 23, 2020
Meanwhile, the Bears received nine positive test results, but upon further review, they were false positives. They’ve postponed practice until later this afternoon. Thus far, thankfully, most of the results appear to be false positives. While a promising development, it does bring further questions about the NFL’s testing procedures.
Bears had nine players/staff text positive for COVID but, upon further review, nine results were false positives, the team said. Out of an abundance of caution, they postponed this morning’s practice to this afternoon at 1:30pm.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 23, 2020
These so-called irregularities could be positive, or even false positives, but the rate of testing the NFL has employed allows them to get on top of these results as quickly as possible.
There's a fifth team, joining the Bears, Bills, Browns and Jets. https://t.co/uQ59Apsu6P
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) August 23, 2020
We can only hope an outbreak was avoided, and the NFL season can resume as scheduled. However, Sunday’s events are just another reminder how quickly the NFL’s plans can unravel.
We’ll update this article with more information as it becomes available.
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