(Audacy) The NBA is relaxing its COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Vaccinated players and coaches can now clear quarantine after six days if testing data shows they're no longer at risk to be infectious, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported Monday, citing a memo sent to teams.
Previously, the quarantine period was a minimum of 10 days unless a player could produce two negative tests at least 24 hours apart. The latter will continue to be a part of the protocols.
Like much of the country, the NBA has been hit hard by COVID infections over the last month. A total of 166 players have entered the health and safety protocols over the last two weeks, per ESPN reported.
Players are considered to test positive on “day zero,” which means they would be eligible to return to play on the seventh day. Data has shown that individuals who have received the booster continue to clear the virus out of their system at a far more rapid rate.
Several teams have had their rosters decimated due to the large surge in cases, which NBA commissioner Adam Silver attributed to the far more contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The reduction in quarantine time will help cut down on the number of games players will miss and would ideally lower the possibility of postponements.
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