Dr. Anthony Fauci told NBC Sports that diligent testing and how the nation responds to a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall will help determine what the 2020 NFL season will look like.
The NFL regular season is not scheduled to begin until September 10th, when the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Houston Texans. Fauci told ESPN that right now “there’s too much infection” for there to be a season, adding, “But I would hope that by the time you get to September, it’s not gonna be the way it is right now.”
“The virus will make the decision for us,” said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
“This is a respiratory virus, so it’s going to be spread by shedding the virus. The problem with virus shedding is that if I have it in my nasopharynx, and it sheds and I wipe my hand against my nose — now it’s on my hand. You see, then I touch my chest or my thigh, then it’s on my chest or my thigh for at least a few hours. Sweat as such won’t transmit it. But if people are in such close contact as football players are on every single play, then that’s the perfect setup for spreading.”
“If you really want to be in a situation where you want to be absolutely certain, you’d test all the players before the game. And you say, ‘Those who are infected: Sorry, you’re sidelined. Those who are free: Get in there and play.'”
“Players who tested positive for the virus should be quarantined for 14 days,” said Fauci
He gave an example of how he recently was exposed to an infection in the White House. He was tested immediately and was negative, but that doesn’t mean he’d be negative the next day. Testing every day isn’t “practical,” but the NFL could diminish the possibility of spread “dramatically by testing everybody Saturday night, Sunday morning, and say, OK, only negative players play.”
Fauci also said that it would be “feasible” for negative testing players to play in front of an empty stadium. He also said if the virus level in the nation is low enough, and that if the risk is for fans is low, he could see envision in being reasonable to fill one third of the stadium or half of the stadium. That ways fans could remain six feet apart.
A football season “will be entirely dependent on the effectiveness with which we as a society respond to the inevitable outbreak that will occur,” said Fauci
This article contains information and media from the NFL, NBC Sports and the Associated Press. For more sports, news and entertainment, follow us on Twitter @MWSNsports or like our page on Facebook.
