A condition of the NBA making a return was a need for increased access to coronavirus tests so that the league isn’t taking them from citizens in need.
So as the league starts to lay out its steps to return in a centralized location, potentially the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., players will need to be tested on arrival at the campus site as well as frequently thereafter to ensure the safety of everyone involved — especially since players reportedly will be allowed to come and go.
The league expects to offer official guidelines for franchises to recall players on June 1, but for now its surveying teams about various logistics still up in the air.
That includes testing, and according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, players are not keen on the full nasal swab test.
“Players are resistant to the full nasal swab coronavirus test: As a result, the league is working on acquiring more comfortable testing via saliva or via the tip of the nose,” Charania on Saturday reported.
Who could blame them?
The deep nasal swab test, called a nasopharyngeal swab, requires doctors to stick a long Q-tip as far as it will go into a person’s nose to collect a culture sample from the uppermost part of the throat behind the nose.
Subjecting players to that on a daily, or even semi-regular basis, might be reason for some to perhaps not want to play at all.
Fortunately for players, there are other options out there, and the NBA reportedly is in talks with national coronavirus testing providers to find the best one.
