The global coronavirus outbreak has some professional sports leagues in the United States taking notice.
Officials from Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL regularly are in contact with the National Centers for Disease Control and prevention and other relevant organizations about the virus, according to ESPN. Many teams reportedly have been receiving information about the outbreak since late January.
There currently are no plans to cancel or postpone any games nor hold them in empty stadiums, though countries like Italy have postponed soccer games until May, per ESPN.
That said, the leagues aren’t taking the outbreak lightly.
“The health and safety of our employees, teams, players and fans is paramount,” the NBA said in a statement, via ESPN. “We are coordinating with our teams and consulting with the CDC and infectious disease specialists on the coronavirus and continue to monitor the situation closely.”
“We are in regular communication with our clubs on the issue and have passed along best practices being recommended by CDC and Public Health Canada medical experts,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “Most of these steps are common sense precautions, but there definitely involves consciousness raising.”
There are 62 reported cases of coronavirus in the US. A Washington man in his 50s died from the illness Saturday, per state officials.
