Captain Fear
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- Mar 20, 2019
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The state of Florida openly courted professional sports despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and is now the site of another multiple-case outbreak in a team setting.
According to Diana Nearhos of the Tampa Bay Times, the NHL’s Lightning have closed the team facility to all non-essential staff after multiple players tested positive following recent workouts. A report from TSN’s Bob McKenzie said three players and two staffers were positive.
The facility will be closed until July 6.
The team was in Phase 2 of their opening protocol, which allowed groups of six players at a time to work out on the ice together. There were limits on the number of staffers who could come in contact with players (one athletic trainer, equipment manager, strength and conditioning coach and dressing room attendant per group of six skaters, and the team physician). More than 12 players have participated in the last week, so they were clearly working in shifts.
Players and staffers were also tested twice per week, and went through temperature and symptom checks each day when they arrived at the facility.
This news comes the same day the Phillies closed their spring training facility across the bay in Clearwater, Fla., after eight employees tested positive there, and a day after a Buccaneers assistant coach tested positive and two more were quarantined.
The Lightning are the fourth NHL team with positive tests.
In a clearly related bit of news, the top story on the Times webpage is headlined “Florida sets another single-day coronavirus case record with nearly 4,000 infections.” The NBA’s planning to resume play in Orlando, but recent trends aren’t favorable for any sporting enterprise.