NBA alarm: 50 cases of coronavirus in a week

THE coronavirus has brought upside down in NBA. The cases have “exploded” and many fear an even greater spread in the coming days, although 97% of players are fully vaccinated.

It is indicative that while in the first two months of the season only 16 players had joined the protocol (which provides for quarantine), the month we are going through this number increased by 70 (!), while only in the last week, from 12 to 18 December, that is, there were 50 such cases.

Among the players who have been isolated are top players in the league, such as Giannis Antitokoumbo, Kevin Durand, James Harden and Kairi Irving, as well as coronavirus makes no exceptions.

Under NBA regulations, a match is only postponed if a team has less than eight players available to fight. A player who is positive enters an isolation from which he leaves after ten days or if he presents two negative tests with a difference of 24 hours.

Currently the team with the largest dispersion is the Nets with ten players in quarantine, while the Bulls have seven, the Knicks six, the Lakers five, the Celtics and the Magic and the Bucks four. It is indicative that in the Nets-Magic match that took place at dawn, a total of 24 players (!) Were absent from both teams due to covid and more.

The NBA and the National Basketball Association (NBPA) decided to tighten the protocol to avoid further dispersion which can endanger even the whole season. They agreed to increase the tests for two weeks, starting on December 26th. Players and staff will be tested on match days, except for those who received the third dose of the vaccine at least 14 days earlier or have recently recovered from the virus, according to a statement. Players and staff should also wear protective masks on benches, at team facilities and while traveling with the team regardless of their vaccination status.

Follow News Bulletin 247 on Google News to be the first to know the latest news .