COVID-19 Positive Cases Affecting the Leagues' Restart Plan

With states gradually unlocking and returning to their normal lives, sports leagues are also resuming. With their health & safety protocols in place — and keeping room for tweaks in the schedule, as required, leagues are preparing to get back to action. But, this does not mean there is no more fear of the pandemic — it’s still there. In fact, certain increasing coronavirus trends across many states have brought around the ripples of hopelessness among the league owners & the players. One such center of concern for the leagues is the incessant increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Florida.

Orlando withdrew from the NWSL Challenge Cup.

Per the latest development, after ten members (including six players & four staff members) of the NWSL Challenge Cup were tested positive for COVID-19, team Orlando opted-out from the league. All of these positive cases were found to be asymptomatic. The Executive Vice President of NWSL club Orlando said, “This was obviously a difficult and disappointing outcome for our players, our staff and fans, however, this is a decision that was made to protect the health of all involved in the Challenge Cup. While we were all excited to see the 2020 Pride on the field this weekend, our priority is now making sure our players and staff safely recover and providing any support wherever and however possible”.

COVID-19 Affecting Florida-based Sports Teams.

This is not the first instance of any Florida-based sports team getting affected with coronavirus, it has not been any good for these teams. Many players were tested positive from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Tampa Bay. However, the latest case is of Orlando, where the prevailing situation has made the entire team withdraw from the competition. Besides, Orlando is set to host the NBA and MLS at Disney World next month. After the discussion with an epidemiologist on the incessantly increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the state — the speculations are that this situation may worsen if there are no improvements anytime soon.

Here’s what the Epidemiologist report said, "Initially thought it was reasonable for Disney personnel to enter and exit the campus every day, given the mitigation procedures: a lack of face-to-face contact with players, required use of face coverings, and symptom screening. Now, the increased number of infections means that the baseline chance of a staffer being infected will be significantly higher, as will the difficulty of preventing an outbreak in the NBA.” Florida’s powerlessness to manage the increasing COVID-19 pandemic is badly affecting the leagues’ plans to return on the field. Let’s hope that Florida gets together and it does not ruin what the fans have been waiting for long.