Major League Baseball is taking additional precautions this season to protect its players, coaches and staff members from COVID-19 in 2021.
One of the newest measures the league is taking is the utilization of Kinexon contact tracing devices. These devices are designed to track close contacts and warn wearers if they’re too close to one another.
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora offered an inside look at how things work.
“As long as I’m six feet away from them, this thing is not going to go off,” Cora told reporters Saturday during a video press conference, via MassLive. “As soon as I get closer, and spend like 10 seconds close to the player, it starts beeping. So you keep the distance.”
The device, which has been utilized by other professional sports leagues since the start of the pandemic, was first introduced during the fall instructional league.
“So some of the guys are used to it,” Cora said. “So when you come in, they take your temperature, you have to pick it up right there, put it in your pocket, walk around with it. I think mine is the updated version. So mine actually beeps. The other ones, they actually have a light (go off) and somebody sees it. But honestly, it hasn’t been that hard. It’s been as normal as possible. The only difference is you’re doing work with the mask on.”
MLB currently is on track to start its season on schedule.
