On a day when bad news from Major League Baseball raised questions about how a sports league can function outside of a bubble, a sports league planning to end its season in two bubbles announced good news.
The NHL, which sends teams in bubbles to Toronto and Edmonton to end their seasons, has announced that it has administered more than 4,000 tests in the past week and has not had a single COVID result -19 positive.
“The NHL conducted phase 3 (official training camp) of its return to play on Saturday without testing positive for COVID-19 among 4,256 tests administered to more than 800 players during the period of July 18 to 25 “said the league. in a report. “During the two-week period of Phase 3, there were a total of two positive tests (both occurring during the period July 13-17) among the 6,874 tests in total. All 24 teams entered the secure area of Edmonton and Toronto yesterday for the start of phase 4 and each of the 52 members of the 24 teams (players and club staff) will be tested daily. The NHL will continue to provide regular updates on the number of tests administered to players and the results of those tests. The league will not provide information on the identity of players or clubs. “
The NBA and NHL appear to be in a better position to end their seasons successfully as they will play in closed “bubbles” that prevent contact with the outside world. The NFL, like the MLB, will not have such a bubble, and the cancellation of two MLB games today on COVID-19 testing must raise concerns within the NFL about whether the season may proceed as planned.
