NFL returns to pre-pandemic normalcy COVID-19
Derrick Henry has been jogging on the field with his daughter after practice. The Green Bay Packers have once again been borrowing kids’ bikes to get to practice.
Fans have been able to get up close and personal with their favorite players for autographs.
Yes, the NFL looks and functions like it’s back to normal, heading into its third season in the COVID-19 era.
Gone are the mock marquees and the facemasks are unusual. In fact, the protocols implemented and modified by the league and the Players Association in 2020 and 2021 were suspended in March.
The NFL appears to be following the recommendations of the CDC, which eliminated social distancing and quarantine requirements last week, because 95% of Americans over the age of 16 have some level of immunity from vaccination or infection.
The league still wants anyone with possible symptoms to disclose, and for people to wear masks, if they were in contact with someone who contracted COVID-19. A positive test still means home isolation for five days.
Derrick Henry has been jogging on the field with his daughter after practice. The Green Bay Packers have gone back to borrowing kids’ bikes to get to practice.
Fans have been able to get up close and personal with their favorite players for autographs.
Yes, the NFL looks and functions like it’s back to normal, heading into its third season in the COVID-19 era.
Gone are the mock marquees and the facemasks are unusual. In fact, the protocols implemented and modified by the league and the Players Association in 2020 and 2021 were suspended in March.
The NFL appears to be following the recommendations of the CDC, which eliminated social distancing and quarantine requirements last week, because 95% of Americans over the age of 16 have some level of immunity from vaccination or infection.
The league still wants anyone with possible symptoms to disclose, and for people to wear masks, if they were in contact with someone who contracted COVID-19. A positive test still means home isolation for five days.
Celebrations are welcome after the relative silence of the past two years, when the only sound was the banging of protective equipment, the shouts of coaches and occasional music.
There is no social distancing anymore. Nor are there the mandatory tests, which save time each morning; it used to be that you had to wait for the result.
In the past two seasons, no NFL regular-season duels were canceled. However, many were traded in the 2020 campaign and there was no preseason.
About 95 percent of players and nearly 100 percent of team personnel are vaccinated, the league reported.
Other professional leagues adjusted their protocols:
Major League Baseball eliminated ongoing COVID-19 testing for all but those with symptoms beginning with the start of the 2022 season.
The NBA has not disclosed its policy for next season. Commissioner Adam Silver said last month that he hoped to continue to move toward normalcy: “What I’ve learned over the last two and a half months is that there’s no predicting anything when it comes to COVID, but I make it clear that we will be prepared for whatever comes.”
