On Wednesday afternoon, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to continue COVID-19 testing until further notice. The NFL told teams today that the positive COVID-19 tests among players and Tier 1 and 2 personnel from the last two weeks was less than 1%. Of course, this is a good sign as teams have begun training camp and having players at the facilities daily.
Original deal between the NFL and NFLPA called for an extension of daily testing for any club exceeding a 5% positivity rate through two weeks. So far, the league says, no club is over 2%. But the sides agreed after consulting with medical experts to continue daily testing anyway https://t.co/ntnAVJttva
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 12, 2020
The original deal between the league and the NFLPA, as reported by NFL Networks Tom Pelissero, was to have testing done daily for any club exceeding 5% positive tests. The NFL reported that no club has exceeded over 2% positive test rate. After consulting with medical experts, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to continue daily testing.
There is still some uncertainty with the positive test results, looking back at the last few weeks with a few players receiving a false positive test result. The NFL COVID-19 test stats can be seen in this tweet from Pelissero:
NFL COVID-19 test stats, per Dr. Allen Sills:
9,983 people on intake: 170 new positives
2,840 players on intake: 53 new positives
109,075 tests thru Tuesday: 0.46% positive overall, 0.81% players
Sills: “I’m not aware of anyone that has had severe illness up to this point.”
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 12, 2020
All seems to be going well as far as how the league and the NFLPA’s COVID-19 protocols have played out thus far. The real test will be when teams travel for games and play against opposing teams. Can these protocols work out outside of a bubble? The NBA, MLB, and NHL have had success with a bubble, but the NFL will be the first sport to operate outside of a bubble.
