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The NBA and other professional sports leagues are in the beginning stages of resuming and/or starting their seasons after the COVID-19 virus shut down sports across the world this spring. If today’s news is any indication, results are not promising. Six teams across three leagues have reported incidences of COVID-19 within the last eight hours. They include the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49’ers of the NFL, and the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL.
Here is the rundown:
Breaking: The Phillies have announced that five players and three staff members working at the club’s Clearwater facility have tested positive for COVID-19.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 19, 2020
The team is closing all facilities in Clearwater indefinitely. pic.twitter.com/QuzVuRWWvs
The Tampa Bay Lightning have temporarily closed their training facilities after several players and staffers test positive for COVID-19
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) June 19, 2020
Notable the Phillies also closed their facility in Clearwater Friday— just 23 miles from TB —after eight positive tests.https://t.co/aVkGQCuUbs
One of the #49ers players who was working out in Nashville tested positive for Covid, sources tell me and @RapSheet. The rest of the group is getting tested and trying to figure out how and when they can travel. Some guys live there so they’ll just hunker down.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) June 19, 2020
Blue Jays shut down their Florida spring training facility yesterday after a player felt COVID-19 symptoms, per @JeffPassan pic.twitter.com/JXLgWlCRpk
— Bleacher Report MLB (@BR_MLB) June 19, 2020
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Assistant Coach Reportedly Tests Positive For COVID-19; Two Others Quarantined: https://t.co/1JIGxPHfd1
— WBZ Boston Sports (@wbzsports) June 19, 2020
POSTMEDIA EXCLUSIVE: Auston Matthews has tested positive for COVID-19. My breaking story: https://t.co/oEAABdUlTU
— steve simmons (@simmonssteve) June 19, 2020
The NBA is scheduled to resume their 2019-20 season on July 30th. Before that players will report for Coronavirus testing at local sites on June 21st, with local training camps beginning June 30th and 22 teams gathering in Orlando, Florida between July 7th and July 9th for on-site practices.
While the league will be operating in a “bubble” on the Disney campus, Tim Reynolds of the AP reported earlier today that 15% of yesterday’s COVID-19 tests in Orlando are now coming back positive. There are no plans at this point to isolate support staff serving the campus from the outside population.