On Tuesday night, a leaked NBA memo outlined the extensive health and safety precautions the league will be undertaking amidst their return to play in Orlando, Florida.
The memo, which is over a 100 pages long, outlines player life inside the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as well as precautions the league is putting in place to mitigate the spread of the disease.
As reported by USA TODAY’s Jeff Zillgitt, before players even report to Orlando for training camps, they’ll be asked to wear masks, quarantine and get tested. The rules for subsequent phases once players actually to get to Florida only get weirder and more invasive.
Players will have the option of wearing, “proximity alarm that will notify a player if he spends more than 5 seconds within 6 feet of another person on campus who is also wearing an alarm. All team and league staff (potentially excluding referees) must wear the alarm; it is optional for players. Players will also have the option of wearing an Oura smart ring that may help with the early detection of the coronavirus and will track temperature, respiratory and heart rate, and other measures.”
Along with the NBA, MLS the WNBA are also planning a return to action in Florida, with the MLS’ Back Tournament kicking off July 8, and the WNBA planning on playing a shortened 22 game season. All players will have their movements severely restricted while in the middle of competition, but all three leagues are planning their return to play at a time when Florida’s coronavirus cases are spiking.
Florida has loosened restrictions on public gatherings and relaxed social distancing orders, and as a result saw the highest number of new coronavirus cases — 2,800 on Monday, according to the Florida Department of Health. The state also saw 2,783 new cases on Tuesday, setting a new daily record for the third time in a week. While many of the new cases come from the Miami-Dade area, Orlando also saw daily highs.
Florida update https://t.co/jBWyp3T96h https://t.co/qzfV3hRs9T
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) June 15, 2020
As cases spike across the state, it’s fair to wonder how this will impact the NBA, MLS and WNBA. Even with the draconian safety measures in place, infection and transmission is still always a possibility. The rise of cases in Florida (and in Arizona and Texas) prove that the more people are out and about, not practicing social distancing and not wearing masks, community spread is a given.
Leagues have taken every precaution to try to isolate themselves from the outside world, but no plan is full proof. Florida certainly isn’t the safest place to be right now, and every league planning to use the state as its home base should be worried. Community spread is a real thing and short of locking the players up totally, higher rates of virus activity mean more risk for players and staff.
According to NPR, Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried voiced concerns over the state reopening. “Refusing to acknowledge the alarming patterns in cases, hospitalizations and positivity is not only arrogant but will cost lives, public health and our economy.”
The NBA especially has tried to do everything possible to prevent community spread, but the truth is that any league can only control so much. If Florida’s laws encourage lax attitudes towards face masks and public gatherings, well, it just means greater risk for everyone involved.
All it takes is one infected person to wander through the door and there go their best laid plans. The truth is that none of this is risk free, but the risk certainly seems higher in Florida than other states at the moment.
Florida is a hot bed of virus activity. Think if you yourself would feel safe traveling there. Many NBA, MLS and WNBA players don’t really have a choice.