The US will likely see the return of NASCAR and the PGA before football, basketball, and hockey amid the coronavirus pandemic. Here's why.
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- The new coronavirus typically spreads when droplets pass between people in sustained, close proximity.
- Contact sports like football, basketball, and hockey are seemingly impossible to play safely, unless athletes and staff are tested first.
- While the US has ramped up its coronavirus testing capacity in the last month, not every American who wants a test can get one.
- Some professional sports team were lambasted in March when their players and staff obtained tests ahead of the public. They want to avoid similar criticism when returning to game play.
- NASCAR announced it plans to return to the track on May 17, without testing its drivers, who operate individual cars.
- Most likely, sports in which athletes can more easily maintain social distancing while competing will return sooner.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci said it might be challenging for major sports to return in the US this year.
"Safety, for the players and for the fans, trumps everything," he told the New York Times on Tuesday. "If you can't guarantee safety, then, unfortunately, you're going to have to bite the bullet and say, 'We may have to go without this sport for this season.'"See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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See Also:
- Cuomo announces New York City will disinfect every subway train every 24 hours in an 'unprecedented step'
- A US researcher who worked with a Wuhan virology lab gives 4 reasons why a coronavirus leak would be extremely unlikely
- NASA's cheap, simple ventilator just got emergency approval from the FDA. It could prevent shortages in a 2nd wave of COVID-19 cases.