The NBA plans to implement an ambitious aspect of its league-wide contact tracking program by requiring players and many team staff to use sensors during all activities organized by the team outside of games at starting Jan. 7, according to a league report obtained by ESPN.
Only Level 1 and Level 2 individuals, designations described in the league’s health and safety protocols that include specific players and staff members, such as coaches, will be required to use Kinexon SafeZone contact sensor devices on the aircraft. of the team, the team bus, during practice and head to and from the arena or home practice facilities in connection with the team’s trip, the memo says.
Not using the sensors is subject to discipline, but it is not clear what it could be. Players are not required to use the sensors during games or at the team hotel when traveling.
A trial period for the program began on December 23 and is expected to be implemented on January 7, according to another league report obtained by ESPN.
The sensors do not record the location of the GPS and will be activated when they approach, which is defined as 6 feet, another person using one, a point that NBA health officials emphasized to calm the concerns about whether individual movements would be monitored. The devices’ “proximity alarm” feature, which was active in the Orlando, Florida bubble, is expected to be turned off this season.
The report states that the sensors will record “the distance and duration of in-person interactions” with other people using a sensor, which the NBA believes will help in its contact tracking reviews on instances of positive coronavirus cases. . These reviews will also include interviews with players and staff members, as well as examining images from the cameras at the team’s premises, to better understand who might have been exposed to an infected person.
A health official with direct knowledge of the situation noted that sensors should significantly help better determine which players or staff might need to be quarantined in the event the situation arises.
“We don’t want to have to unnecessarily quarantine someone who doesn’t need to be,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
This effort is a collaboration of the NBA, the players’ union, and medical officials, and officials involved believe it should serve proactively to identify situations in which staff members and players were interacting in close proximity. often problematic in the event of an infection.
“We hope it can also be used not only when there are cases, but proactively to try to reduce contacts even before there are cases,” said NBA Senior Vice President David Weiss. who has worked alongside players ’union officials and medical experts during the pandemic, on ESPN.
The NFL has used these sensors during its season, and the NBA did so voluntarily in Orlando, and people often use them on a cord. A league memorandum states that there are options for designated players and staff to use the sensors, which include a cord, bracelet, or other portable device, although players must use the sensor in the league. waist at the front of his shorts during practice.
Compliance among players was said to be solid in Orlando, but keeping a season out of a contained environment during the coronavirus pandemic creates numerous opportunities for infection. As such, the NBA believes requiring sensors is a necessary step, even if it can be inconvenient, as some team officials say.
“He’s definitely going to have his potholes in the way,” the health official said, adding that the sensors would not be used in personal time.
An NBA athletic coach described the program as “ambitious” and highlighted the differences between the NFL and NBA teams that use the sensors.
“It’s one thing to do that in the NFL, where you basically go to the same place to work every day,” the athletic coach said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I mean, theoretically you have 8:00 rounds of a game a year [en la NFL]. This is a far cry from what we do. We have to set up and load things, distribute them and collect them and distribute them and collect them, and think [en] planes, internships and bus and internship trips in the morning and games in the evening and a trip to the airport. It’s really an ambitious thing. “
At least two staff members from each team will be tasked with helping to manage the Kinexon SafeZone system, but the data recorded by the sensors will be shared only with the league and individual teams and not with other teams, according to a report. of the league. The information collected on the sensors will be “unidentified” and will not be individually accessible after the 2020-21 season, according to the memo.