According to the National Football League (NFL), 96 of its players tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. There were an additional 10 positive tests among players over the weekend, bringing the total to 106 players on the league’s Reserve/Covid-19 list since Christmas.
“We’re entering a new phase of the pandemic, different than we’ve seen before,” said the NFL’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills. “We can’t apply 2020 solutions to the 2021 problems we’re having.”
“What testing doesn’t do is prevent transmission, and we’ve known that always,” Sills said. “That was true last year and it’s still true today. As we look at how to respond, what we’re trying to do is prevent spread within the facility and keep people from testing positive.”
Sills added, “Keeping people from testing positive takes us back to their immunity: getting the booster, getting their antibody levels up. Spread within the facility is more about these other measures. You have to rely on those other measures to make sure that we’re not creating spread within our facilities.”
“At some point, you feel like you’re fighting a ghost,” Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. “You don’t know where to swing.”
League officials are resistant to the idea of daily testing.
The NFL postponed three games last week, but has yet to cancel a game so far this season.