The Wuhan virus remains a thorn in the side of fans who want to see sports.
The NFL is currently slated to begin early next month, but there could be bumps in the road.
And the NFL season could be jeopardized for a mind-numbing reason.
Pro-lockdown politicians and journalists have been imploring people to “listen to the science,” but that isn’t what’s happening.
“The Science” says lockdowns are ineffective at best, and detrimental at worst.
Isolating at-risk populations and people with symptoms and practicing social distancing are the best way to stop the spread of the virus.
Instead, the lockdown crew want to stamp out all human enjoyment, and that includes professional sports.
Sadly, the hysteria is working because some Americans believe 30 million people in the United States have died from the virus; the worldwide death toll isn’t even at 900,000.
The NBA and Major League Baseball have had some minor virus-related setbacks, but the leagues have soldiered on.
However, the NFL season could hit a snag for an absurd reason.
A lab in New Jersey called BioReference returned 77 false positive COVID-19 test results to the NFL.
Luckily, the mistake was caught, but that would have a devastating impact.
An outbreak of false positive tests could derail the NFL season.
Unlike other sports, NFL games can’t be played as doubleheaders or scheduled in back-to-back days.
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane said, “Definitely probably better that this happened now than three weeks from now…But it seems like every few weeks, or even every week, something’s going on. Who knows what the next curveball will be?”
If this happened in the middle of the season, it could derail everything.
It even has consequences on a personal level.
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford received a false positive test result, and it had ripple effects on his entire family.
Suddenly his wife and kids were treated like pariahs because they were perceived to have had the virus.
The NFL said in a statement:
“Clubs are taking immediate precautionary measures as outlined in the NFL-NFLPA’s health and safety protocols to include contact tracing, isolation of individuals and temporarily adjusting the schedule, where appropriate…The other laboratories used for NFL testing have not had similar results.”
It’s not confidence-inspiring that one lab dropped the ball, but the other ones should be good to go.
Off-season activities have been hampered by players testing positive for the virus.
The NFL isn’t equipped to handle a major mistake like this in the middle of the season.
NFL fans need to hope that the NFL’s testing procedures and isolation protocols hold up for the next four months, or they might not see a complete season.
Several major sporting events have already been canceled or postponed due to the virus.
The NFL is the most popular sport in America, so it definitely needs to find a way to survive the season.
