Vikings Suspend In-Person Activities Due to Titans' Positive COVID-19 Tests
The NFL has its first major COVID-19 scare – and the Vikings are directly impacted by it.
The league revealed Tuesday morning that the Tennessee Titans have eight new positive tests for the coronavirus, with three players and five staffers testing positive. The Titans are shutting down all in-person activities and so are the Vikings, who hosted them at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
"On Tuesday morning, the Titans COVID testing results returned three new player positives and five new personnel positives," said the league in a statement. "The Titans will suspend in-person club activities starting today. Likewise, the Vikings, who played the Titans on Sunday, will also suspend in-person club activities. Both clubs are working closely with the NFL and the NFLPA, including our infectious disease experts, to evaluate close contacts, perform additional testing and monitor developments. All decisions will be made with health and safety as our primary consideration. We will continue to share updates as more information becomes available."
The Vikings have not had any positive tests, but they are evacuating TCO Performance Center and shutting it down until further notice.
"Today the NFL notified us that members of the Tennessee Titans organization have tested positive for COVID-19," the Viking said in a statement of their own. "As of this morning, we have not received any positive results from Vikings testing following Sunday’s game. Per the NFL protocol, we will suspend in-person club activities and close TCO Performance Center immediately. We will work closely with the NFL and NFLPA to monitor the situation, perform additional testing and determine when the facility can reopen. We will provide further updates regarding this week’s football schedule when appropriate."
The Vikings are conducting expansive testing today and won't be back in their facility until all of their results are back. "League contact tracing has identified 48 close contacts with the eight people who tested positive in Tennessee," tweeted ESPN's Dan Graziano. "Contingency/rescheduling plans are being discussed, obviously."
The Vikings had a scheduled off day on Tuesday, but they're supposed to practice on Wednesday through Friday this week ahead of their Week 4 game in Houston on Sunday. At this point, it's unclear when they'll be able to return to practice.
Since this is the league's first major scare and potential outbreak, the NFL is going to handle everything with extreme caution. That means that there's a real chance the Vikings and Titans' games this week could be postponed and rescheduled.
Further updates will be provided on this developing story.
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