The N.B.A. and N.H.L. announced a new round of game postponements, and the N.F.L. again adjusted its testing policies, as a Covid-19 surge continued to dog athletes.
Facing an alarming increase in pro athletes testing positive for the coronavirus, along with the rest of the country, the N.B.A. announced Sunday that it would postpone five games, bringing to seven the total number of coronavirus-related postponements in the N.B.A. this season. Also on Sunday, the N.H.L. announced that “due to the concern about cross-border travel and, given the fluid nature of federal travel restrictions,” it would postpone 21 games slated for Monday through Dec.23 and which pitted Canadian against U.S.-based teams. Those games are scheduled to resume on Dec.27. And the N.F.L. and N.F.L. Players Association on Saturday made a change to its testing protocols, the fourth such adjustment in a week. They were the latest amendments to schedules and health rules pro leagues have made in lieu of stopping their seasons. With high vaccination rates among players and staff members, both the N.F.L. and N.B.A. have generally scaled back Covid-19 testing, which aligns with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control. According to the C.D.C., vaccinated individuals do not need to be tested unless they are exposed or show symptoms, advice that pro leagues seem to be embracing after previously testing with more frequency. In a memo to all 32 teams sent Saturday, Commissioner Roger Goodell said that players will be given test kits that they can use at home to help them “identify and self-report a possible infection before entering the facility.” Vaccinated N.F.L. players who are asymptomatic will be subject to “strategic and targeted” tests, while players who report symptoms of a coronavirus infection will be tested “promptly.” The N.F.L.’s testing strategy mirrors other pro leagues, though the N. BA. and N.H.L. temporarily instituted daily testing measures for players, regardless of vaccination status, amid the current surge fueled by the Omicron variant: N.B.A. players will be tested daily for two weeks starting Dec.26, and N.H.L. players began testing on Saturday and will continue until at least Jan.1. “I would not describe it as, we’re stopping testing” for vaccinated players, Dr. Allen Sills, the N.F.L.’s chief medical officer, said Saturday on a call with reporters. “We’re trying to test smarter and in a more strategic fashion.” Those decisions to rely on the self-reporting of symptoms raised fresh questions about whether players will do so and face the prospect of missing a start if they test positive. It’s worked in other sectors of society, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
