In addition to the anxiety currently affecting the NBA amid an increase in COVID-19 cases, several players who previously tested positive for coronavirus have recently tested positive for the second time, sources told ESPN.
The CDC defines “reinfection” as a person who becomes infected, recovers, and then becomes infected again. There are ongoing studies on how long immunity can last, but the CDC says it expects some coronavirus reinfections.
The NBA has announced more than 100 positive tests since last summer, but the actual number is expected to be significantly higher from March. Several teams have more than ten players who have tested positive at some point in the past nine months, sources told ESPN.
Because evidence was less available and there were higher rates of false positives in the early pandemic, there is some level of uncertainty as to how many players had positive real cases in early 2020, especially during the three months of the league stop.
It is possible that some players who tested positive for the virus, but who were asymptomatic months ago, were false positives. Some players have been tested for antibody levels to determine their level of immunity, but there is currently no league-wide procedure for regularly testing these levels.
Team and league doctors evaluate each positive test and players ’exposure on a case-by-case basis, because the nature of the virus is still uncertain, league officials said. For example, players who have tested positive in the previous 90 days are sometimes handled differently than players who might have tested positive last summer because of the way the virus could still appear on their system.
The league office, the National Association of Basketball Players, teams and agents have been in talks in recent days to consider protocol changes to limit the spread that has resulted in the postponement of three games. The league has already placed players who previously had the virus (Brook Durant of Brooklyn and Bam Adebayo of Miami are two examples) in safety and health quarantines throughout the week after exposure to an infected person for concern. reinfection or spread of the virus.
According to current CDC guidelines, the duration of immunity after COVID-19 infection is not yet understood. Some reinfections are expected, based on knowledge of other coronaviruses, but are thought to be rare.
ESPN journalist Tim MacMahon contributed to this story.