The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are nearing an agreement to shorten the mandatory isolation period for some players who test positive for COVID-19, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Players could be eligible to return as soon as six days after testing positive, depending on cycle threshold (CT), as first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The details are expected to be shared with teams soon, per ESPN, but it’s unclear when the new arrangement would go into effect and how it might affect the five nationally televised games scheduled to be played on Christmas Day.
This new plan would effectively modify the existing health and safety protocols, which stipulate that a player who tests positive must quarantine until either a) 10 days after the initial positive test or the onset of symptoms, 24 hours after a fever has subsided without medication and the CT is greater than 30; or b) the player tests negative on two PCR tests, 24 hours apart.
In an interview with Malika Andrews on ESPN’s “NBA Today” on Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that they were “actively looking at” changing the default quarantine period for players who have received booster shots.
“We always are measuring viral loads with our PCR tests, that’s part of the protocol,” Silver said. “And so it’s something … not just our doctors, but the medical community is looking at. One, I think they’re already realizing that you can move away from the 10-day protocol when you have players who are vaccinated and boosted. It seems like the virus runs through their systems faster. They become not just asymptomatic but, more importantly, they’re not shedding the virus anymore. That’s the real concern, in terms of (spreading the virus to) others. We are actively looking at shortening the amount of days that a player is out before he can return to the floor.”
Under the current protocols, each player’s specific return-to-play timeline is variable. Players with moderate to severe symptoms can’t exercise for at least 10 days following symptom onset and must go through cardiac screening before being cleared. Players with mild symptoms cannot exercise for at least seven days following symptom onset. Asymptomatic players cannot exercise for three days following the positive test. All players must be cleared by a team and league doctor before they can play in games, and players must be monitored by a cardiologist for a period of time if they have moderate (minimum 48 hours) or severe (minimum 72 hours) symptoms.
Based on Silver’s comments, it would follow that the changes would only affect players who are asymptomatic and not contagious.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
