While the NBA champion Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets quickly received coronavirus tests, the general public has been left waiting, sparking a backlash over privileged athletes’ and celebrities’ access to care.
“We wish them a speedy recovery. But, with all due respect, an entire NBA team should NOT get tested for COVID-19 while there are critically ill patients waiting to be tested,” tweeted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio after it was reported the Nets had been tested and four players were isolated after positive coronavirus results.
“Tests should not be for the wealthy, but for the sick.”
As the coronavirus spreads and the United States deals with a shortage of test kits, the public has grown increasingly disgruntled over the ease by which professional athletes get tested while others displaying symptoms are forced to wait.
The highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the virus has now infected close to 8,000 Americans while the death toll has climbed to at least 145.
Trump unloads on AOC, Mamdani for laughing during sacred 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero
GOP gov candidate recounts miracle water landing as dispatch audio reveals desperate search for sinking plane
Trump says Lindsay Clancy case is a ‘state situation’ following attorney’s pardon plea
Charlie Kirk statue defaced with red paint, Jesus crossed out days after 1-year mark of assassination
Arrest rips apart media narrative on death of Black woman found hanging from Mississippi tree
Trump tells Zelenskyy to stop doing ‘one thing’ during attacks on Russia
Election chaos in this red state just got even stranger for Republicans after Supreme Court ruling
The Left Loves ‘Land Acknowledgements’: Here’s One That Honors Our Forefathers and Actually Tells the Truth About Native Tribes
Arizona Corrections Officer Arrested for Smuggling 5,400 Rounds of Ammo for Mexican Drug Cartel
You’ve Never Heard of This Potential US Partner, But Their Minerals Could Help Us Take on China
3 House Democrats Visit ICE Detention Center to Meet with Illegal Aliens with Deportation Orders
Trump gives Smithsonian days to replace ‘strange modernist sculpture’ with Founding Father
Diesel Just Hit $5.90 a Gallon with Refineries Maxed Out: Winter Won’t Get Any Better
‘History Worth Teaching’: Trump Demands Smithsonian Replace Woke Modernist Nonsense Giant Statue of Washington
Broke Blue Cities Are Betting on a SCOTUS Climate Suit to Force Oil Companies to Cover Their Bloated Budgets
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, in an interview with ESPN on Wednesday, said he could understand de Blasio’s concern but the bigger one was that there are not enough tests available and that the league was simply following protocol.
“I of course understand his point and it’s unfortunate that we’re in this position as a society that it’s triage when it comes to testing,” said Silver, adding that eight full teams as well as individual players have been tested. “And so the fundamental issue is there are insufficient tests.
“But we’ve been following the recommendations of public health officials.”
USA Today reported last week that after Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus 58 members of the Jazz organization were tested.
INFECTED PLAYERS
So were the Oklahoma Thunder, the team the Jazz were scheduled to play last Wednesday, and the entire Toronto Raptors travelling squad who were concerned they might have come in contact with infected players during a visit to Salt Lake City on March 9.
The Los Angeles Lakers, the last team to play the Nets before the NBA season was suspended, announced on Wednesday their players were also undergoing tests for COVID-19.
Trump unloads on AOC, Mamdani for laughing during sacred 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero
GOP gov candidate recounts miracle water landing as dispatch audio reveals desperate search for sinking plane
Trump says Lindsay Clancy case is a ‘state situation’ following attorney’s pardon plea
Charlie Kirk statue defaced with red paint, Jesus crossed out days after 1-year mark of assassination
Arrest rips apart media narrative on death of Black woman found hanging from Mississippi tree
Trump tells Zelenskyy to stop doing ‘one thing’ during attacks on Russia
Election chaos in this red state just got even stranger for Republicans after Supreme Court ruling
The Left Loves ‘Land Acknowledgements’: Here’s One That Honors Our Forefathers and Actually Tells the Truth About Native Tribes
Arizona Corrections Officer Arrested for Smuggling 5,400 Rounds of Ammo for Mexican Drug Cartel
You’ve Never Heard of This Potential US Partner, But Their Minerals Could Help Us Take on China
3 House Democrats Visit ICE Detention Center to Meet with Illegal Aliens with Deportation Orders
Trump gives Smithsonian days to replace ‘strange modernist sculpture’ with Founding Father
Diesel Just Hit $5.90 a Gallon with Refineries Maxed Out: Winter Won’t Get Any Better
‘History Worth Teaching’: Trump Demands Smithsonian Replace Woke Modernist Nonsense Giant Statue of Washington
Broke Blue Cities Are Betting on a SCOTUS Climate Suit to Force Oil Companies to Cover Their Bloated Budgets
The ability of NBA teams to secure tests on demand has drawn the wrath of fans on social media.
“The thing is that is always the case. The rich will always get it first and the poor will always get it last,” tweeted @thedrsec, who has over 23,000 followers and a radio program on 22 stations across seven states.
President Donald Trump waded into the issue during a news conference on Wednesday when he was asked, “How are non-symptomatic professional athletes getting tests while others are waiting in line and can’t get them? Do the well connected go to the front of the line?”
“No, I wouldn’t say so,” said the president. “But perhaps that’s the story of life. That does happen on occasion, and I’ve noticed where people have been tested fairly quickly.” In most cases the ability of teams to get their players tested has had more to do with money and going through private labs than state-run public health departments and jumping the queue.
The NBA also defended the speedy action as a way of preventing the spread of the virus with testing of players drawing it to the attention of young people.
Trump unloads on AOC, Mamdani for laughing during sacred 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero
GOP gov candidate recounts miracle water landing as dispatch audio reveals desperate search for sinking plane
Trump says Lindsay Clancy case is a ‘state situation’ following attorney’s pardon plea
Charlie Kirk statue defaced with red paint, Jesus crossed out days after 1-year mark of assassination
Arrest rips apart media narrative on death of Black woman found hanging from Mississippi tree
Trump tells Zelenskyy to stop doing ‘one thing’ during attacks on Russia
Election chaos in this red state just got even stranger for Republicans after Supreme Court ruling
The Left Loves ‘Land Acknowledgements’: Here’s One That Honors Our Forefathers and Actually Tells the Truth About Native Tribes
Arizona Corrections Officer Arrested for Smuggling 5,400 Rounds of Ammo for Mexican Drug Cartel
You’ve Never Heard of This Potential US Partner, But Their Minerals Could Help Us Take on China
3 House Democrats Visit ICE Detention Center to Meet with Illegal Aliens with Deportation Orders
Trump gives Smithsonian days to replace ‘strange modernist sculpture’ with Founding Father
Diesel Just Hit $5.90 a Gallon with Refineries Maxed Out: Winter Won’t Get Any Better
‘History Worth Teaching’: Trump Demands Smithsonian Replace Woke Modernist Nonsense Giant Statue of Washington
Broke Blue Cities Are Betting on a SCOTUS Climate Suit to Force Oil Companies to Cover Their Bloated Budgets
“The NBA’s move to halt its season led the way for other leagues and raised awareness of the threat of the virus,” said Silver.
“My sense was that especially among young people, people were not taking these protocols very seriously until we did what we did.” (Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Additional reporting Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, Amy Tennery in New York, Editing by Ed Osmond)
Story cited here.
