NFL to intensify (team) COVID-19 protocols around Thanksgiving holiday
With Thanksgiving approaching and COVID-19 cases rising again nationwide, the NFL on Tuesday night issued a memo to its teams detailing changes to its COVID-19 protocols, including mandatory testing for all players and staff the Monday and Wednesday after the holiday and mandatory mask-wearing for all players and staff while inside club facilities from Nov. 25 through Dec. 1.
Effective Nov. 29, all NFL teams will be required to have video cameras installed in their weight rooms and cafeterias, including weight rooms that are outdoors or in practice bubbles. Teams must retain video from those cameras for 30 days in case the league requests to view it for the purpose of finding out whether people are following mask requirements at team facilities.
NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said that 81 players and staff members tested positive for COVID-19 during the latest testing period, Oct. 31-Nov. 13, the highest caseload of the season. From Sept. 5 through Oct. 30, a total of 97 players and staff members tested positive, and the surge that followed sparked the decision to elevate testing and masking policies.
All Tier 1 and Tier 2 individuals, regardless of vaccination status, will be Mesa [rapid PCR] tested on Monday, Nov. 29, and Wednesday, Dec. 1. Under the current protocols, unvaccinated players must be tested every day and wait for their test results to come back negative before they are allowed to enter the building, while vaccinated players and staff are tested once a week and do not have to wait for their results before entering. For the week after Thanksgiving, vaccinated individuals will be tested on Monday and Wednesday.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32653852/nfl-intensify-covid-19-protocols-thanksgiving-holiday
