Dr. Fauci Says the NFL needs “Bubble” or Shouldn’t Play in 2020
The NFL insists it will start its regular season in teams’ usual stadiums, with or without fans. But it’s a copycat league.
And in the opinion of one coronavirus expert, the NFL should mimic the NBA and MLS and play its season only if it occurs in a “bubble.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and remains a key member of the White House’s coronavirus task force. Thursday, he told CNN football players should be isolated and tested regularly.
"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.”
Last month, Fauci also said football is the “perfect setup” to spread the coronavirus.
Earlier this week, several members of the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys became the latest NFL players to test positive for the virus.
"We expect we are going to have positive tests,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told ESPN Monday. “That is part of the increased testing that we will be going through, and that is something that we just want to make sure that our protocols are working and to date. We are seeing very positive reactions in the sense that we are making sure we respond quickly, protect the personnel that may be impacted by that and others that may be in contact with them.”
Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the NFL Players Association informed its members they could be tested for COVID-19 as frequently as every three days during the season.
The NFL still plans for teams to kick off in-person training camps in late July.
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