More Positive Cases and Reinfections: Surge of COVID-19 Continues in the NBA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) recorded zero positive cases for 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) during the Orlando bubble to finish the 2019-2020 season. 

Four weeks into the 2020-2021 season, not only did the NBA report more players testing positive for COVID-19. Reports are now saying that there are multiple players who got re-infected by the said disease. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is saying that there are cases wherein a person gets infected by COVID-19, recovered, then got infected again and that, this is the case in the NBA. Over the course of the past nine months, there were multiple NBA teams that had 10 players testing positive for COVID-19 and while many of those cases turn out as asymptomatic or even false positive, it still depends on how each player was handled. 

It also doesn't help the NBA that they decided to play the season outside of a bubble and with players being able to go to bars and other establishments, the chance of them getting infected by COVID-19 becomes higher. The league, along with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) recently met to discuss the necessary changes to the health and safety protocols in hopes of finding ways to move forward with the season WITHOUT having to stop games for a long period of time. 

While it has also been reported that the league office is also considering stopping games up to two weeks, something like the three-month stoppage prior to the bubble last year is also on the table. 

Photo is from Novant Health