The medical director of the NFL players’ union has recommended that all players stop private workouts together.
Dr. Thom Mayer told members of the NFLPA in a message Saturday that the risk of being stricken by the new coronavirus is too great to be staging those workouts.
Mayer said staff was working on the best mitigation procedures at team facilities for both training camps and the upcoming season and advised “against any voluntary joint practices before training camp commences.”
In recent days, members of the Buccaneers, Cowboys, 49ers and Texans organizations tested positive for COVID-19.
The NFL has allowed team facilities to reopen on a limited basis, with no players except those rehabilitating injuries allowed on the premises.
Training camps are scheduled to open in late July, with the first preseason contest the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 6 between Dallas and Pittsburgh.
The league has said it plans to play its season as scheduled, with the first game set for Sept. 10 at Kansas City.
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Rio de Janeiro Mayor Marcelo Crivella has suspended all professional soccer matches in the city only three days after play restarted amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Crivella issued a decree on Saturday arguing that time is needed to adapt safety protocols for all teams. The suspension is valid for five days.
On Thursday night, Flamengo beat Bangu 3-0 at Maracanã Stadium in the first professional soccer match in South America in nearly three months. The game marked the return of Brazil’s state leagues, but at a field hospital near a stadium gate doctors said two COVID-19 patients had died.
So far, Rio state has counted more than 8,500 fatalities from the disease. Brazil officially topped 1 million cases of COVID-19 on Friday.
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