LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Professional sports are already in the midst of a winter COVID-19 surge, with several leagues seeing major outbreaks among several teams and having to postpone games or pull key players as a result.
The National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and National Football League all entered health and safety protocols this week, according to CNBC, after more than 100 people throughout them tested positive for the virus.
Dr. Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist & professor of data sciences at Emory University, has done consulting with several of the leagues. He spoke with KNX In Depth to share his thoughts on what could be contributing to the rise in cases among players and staff.
“I think it’s probably a combination of a couple of things. We know COVID doesn't spread very well outdoors, but when you’re on a sports team you’re not just spending time on a football field or a soccer pitch outside,” Binney said, explaining that much of what teammates do off the field is done maskless if they’re vaccinated.
“You’re spending time in meeting rooms, in cafeterias … in weight rooms and training rooms and medical care.”
When it comes to the sudden rise in cases though, is it the Omicron variant, a lack of boosters or the overall waning efficacy of vaccines against the coronavirus?
“Omicron is a little more plausible for that,” he said. “Our best data is that it's still fairly rare in the U.S. but that data could be a little behind and if you got even one or two Omicrons into, say, the L.A. Rams or the Cleveland Browns, with what we know about Omicron’s transmissibility … it could have certainly spread through those organizations very quickly and resulted in a lot more Omicron cases than you might think given the rarity in the U.S. in general.”
Already leagues like the NFL are jumping into action to prevent a spread, putting seven teams so far under “advanced protocols.”
“That’s going back to masks indoors, more virtual meetings, moving as many things outside where it’s harder to transmit the virus,” Binney said. “These are all great steps that were proven last year — when there was no Omicron variant, but also no vaccines — to do a very good job at keeping COVID under control.”
Beyond that, Binney said the best thing people in the organizations can do to protect themselves is get vaccinated or get their booster shot.
“We know that that helps you clear the virus quicker, even if you do get infected … it makes you much less likely to be hospitalized or suffer severe illness,” he said.
“A very, very high percentage of the people who are very sick are sick because they are unvaccinated.”
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