Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) officials led by commissioner Willie Marcia allayed fears of the league’s “bubble” being compromised after a player from the Blackwater Elite tested positive for Covid-19.
In a press conference on Sunday night, Marcial, who was joined by deputy commissioner Eric Castro, medical consultant George Canlas and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and CEO Vince Dizon, said no protocols have been broken and the “bubble” has not been breached.
“We haven’t broken any protocol. The bubble is not bursting,” said Marcial.
Canlas added that the league continues to stay the course in spite having two probable cases in less than a week. One was a game official, which turned out to be a “false positive” case. Another was a player from Blackwater whose recent swab test turned out to be positive.
“I want to assure everybody is still safe in the bubble. It’s one of the safest places you can be in right now and we are constantly trying to improve our methods,” said Canlas.
Dizon said there is no cause for panic as he and the rest of the team manning the PBA are prepared to handle such situations.
“What has happened to us in the past couple of days happened as well to other bubbles in the United States, the NBA and the NFL. We just have to follow the protocols that we have benchmarked and follow them properly,” Dizon said.
“The protocols are meant to address situations like this. Testing is just one of the protocols. I want to reiterate that all the players go through regular clinical checks for symptoms which is the most important,” Dizon added.
Dizon also shared that he is batting for more testing using the antigen method, which provides faster results and has already been given the green light by the Department of Health.
“There is regular testing and we will recommend to do it more frequently using antigen testing for the benefit of the players especially now that the DOH has approved the use of antigen testing,” said Dizon. (JNP)