The NFL COVID-19 big test concludes Sunday with an incredible Super Bowl feat on time, marking a season without postponed games.
Why it’s important to: The season suggests that, with the right resources, safety measures and cooperation – all of which have been lacking in the general U.S. response – life can continue at the time of the undiagnosed pandemic. unregulated by the virus.
The big picture: The NFL decided early on that thousands of players, coaches and other staff would not have to live in “bubbles,” as other sports leagues had done.
- Instead, the league expanded the foundations of public health on social distance, testing, communication detection and loneliness across all 32 teams. To prevent spread, officials were willing to cancel games or mountain players.
Jeff Miller, the executive vice president of the NFL on communications, public affairs and policy, told Axios: “The approach we took was to understand that individuals were expected to receive COVID – and what all we could do to prevent it from spreading across our facilities. ”
- “Our protocols were built on that foundation – that there was a risk of living in our 32 communities at the time of a pandemic, but we wanted to make sure we could stop the spread of a virus. as best we could.
Between the lines: Some of the NFL ‘s findings were published by the CDC – including what the league learned about the spread of the virus.
- The most important changes the league needed to make over time were related to “our evolution of the high-risk communications,” Miller said.
Find the league dangerous contact with an infected person was not limited to a 15-minute interaction within 6 feet. Instead the definition became more complex, including time, distance, ventilation and mask wear.
- “There was an interplay in all four of these factors, which, in our experience, was much more complex than six feet and 15 minutes,” Miller said.
Bottom line: “We’ve never seen the virus spread across the scrimmage line,” Miller said – even when players who tested positive participated in the game.
- The league was able to prove that this was true through a genetic sequence.
Go deeper: Super Bowl Preview