Dr. Anthony Fauci Recommends 'Bubble' Concept for Football this Fall

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leader of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is recommending football be played in what amounts to a bubble this upcoming season.

In an interview with CNN, Fauci said he believed football leagues should attempt to mirror the NBA plan to play in a contained environment as an attempt to contain the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus.

"Unless players are essentially in a bubble – insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day – it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall," Fauci said. "If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year."

To this point, neither the NFL or NCAA have laid out any such plans to play in this sort of biodome fashion.

In fact, earlier this month Ole Miss even sent out an email blast to season ticket holders saying that they intend on having Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at full capacity this upcoming fall. To be fair, they also stated that they are taking precautions in case that may not be possible.

There have been no public statements by the NCAA on the matter since Fauci's quotes, but the NFL has discussed the matter.

"We are developing a comprehensive and rapid-result testing program and rigorous protocols that call for a shared responsibility from everyone inside our football ecosystem," said the NFL's chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills. "This is based on the collective guidance of public health officials, including the White House task force, the CDC, infectious disease experts, and other sports leagues.

Back in may, Fauci described football as a "perfect setup for spreading" COVID-19. Again, we certainly know more about how to contain the disease than we did one month ago.

At Ole Miss, only two in the athletics department have tested positive for COVID-19 upon returning to campus. Nine others are being quarantined, despite testing negative for the virus, after being deemed in close contact with the initial two positive cases.

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