The NFL should postpone the rest of the 2020 season until it can reduce the growing number of coronavirus cases in the league to prevent spreading the virus.
According to an Oct. 8 Sporting News article, 20 NFL players tested positive since the beginning of the season on Sept. 10. Multiple cases are being reported across several league teams, including the
Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots. If team personnel were also included, the number of positive cases would be higher.
The NFL has shown it has not established an effective COVID-19 protocol to keep players, coaches and staff members safe from contracting the virus.
According to the same Sporting News article, players who test positive for COVID-19 are immediately isolated in quarantine for at least 10 days if they show symptoms. If the player is asymptomatic, they have to quarantine for at least five days and need two consecutive negative virus tests before playing again. However, their teammates who have been in contact with them are not quarantined.
This goes against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for anyone who comes into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 as they are supposed to quarantine for a minimum of 14 days.
According to an Oct. 7 ESPN article, the NFL safety protocol includes daily COVID-19 testing for essential team staff and players.
Even with safety protocols, players do not wear face masks while playing and are only recommended to wear masks on the sidelines during games.
New cases will continue to be reported because of the league’s current protocols, which allows teams to travel instead of implementing a bubble concept like the NBA and NHL.
Players and staff are still traveling for games and are potentially at risk of exposure when away from regulated NFL facilities.
At this point in the season it is too late for the NFL to implement the bubble concept because that would have required the teams to isolate in a predetermined space.
Clearly the NFL is more interested in monetary gain than the health and safety of its community of players and staff.
Instead of committing to a more effective method of containing the virus, the NFL imposed significant fines for those who violate health and safety regulations.
According to an Oct. 5 New York Times article, nine players from the Las Vegas Raiders were each fined
$15,000 for attending a charity event at a country club in Nevada that took place indoors with hundreds of people who were not wearing masks.
The current NFL schedule consists of an average of 16 games a week for 17 weeks. Teams extensively traveling this much only increases the chance of an outbreak.
Five weeks into the season and the NFL is already rescheduling games because players are testing positive for COVID-19 practically every week.
The NFL rescheduled eight games so far to accommodate for the outbreaks. It is not yet clear if the league will be able to manage another major reshuffling if more teams report new cases.
Continuing with the season not only puts players and staff at risk, but fans as well.
According to a Sept. 17 Around the NFL article, a fan tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a Kansas City Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium. The team had about 16,000 fans in attendance for the season opener against the Houston Texans.
The NFL already put hundreds of lives at risk and is continuing to put the health and safety of its fans, players and staff at risk by continuing the season. The league should seriously consider postponing all games and develop a more effective plan to prevent future COVID-19 outbreaks.
