2 min read • December 24, 2021
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The NFL appears to be leaning towards allowing asymptomatic players to play in games, a potential big step in finishing the season without teams missing a majority of key players.
NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills said recently that, based on their testing and genomic study, they have not seen asymptomatic individuals spreading COVID-19.
With this, the league is saying only symptomatic players are likely to infect others around them. The NFL has changed its policies and stopped testing fully vaccinated, asymptomatic players as a result of this finding.
Dr. David Chao, ProFootballDoc, said the next step is for the NFL to invite nationally recognized epidemiologist, immunologist and infectious disease experts to review the data and verify their conclusions.
If this is done, it would be a huge step towards allowing COVID-positive asymptomatic individuals to play in games and practices, Chao said.
It would also solve the NFL's problem of countless players missing games late in the season after testing positive for COVID-19. If the NFL's data is correct and approved, only symptomatic players would have to miss games and practice.
If the NFL takes this first bold step, it could pave the way for other major sports leagues to do the same.
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