Will PBA testing be postponed?

It wasn’t easy to nail down a schedule for nine of the 12 PBA teams to line up for COVID-19 swab testing at the Makati Medical Center because of the long queues but somehow, the pro league got it done. The testing is set for Thursday and Friday. The three other PBA teams under the San Miguel Corp. group (San Miguel Beer, Magnolia, Barangay Ginebra) will undergo testing using the company’s own medical facilities at the same time.

The idea is to undergo testing approximately three days before the start of practice.  After the IATF-approved Joint Administrative Order (JAO) was signed last Monday to restart pro sports training in limited numbers under GCQ, the PBA set the resumption of practice on Aug. 10 or 11. So the testing schedule was just right preparatory for the restart.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said the Board of Governors would meet in September to decide when to reopen the suspended 45th season, assuming an uninterrupted practice regimen of at least a month. Marcial said with the long layoff, players shouldn’t be rushed into playing actual games until after getting warmed up. The risk of injury is higher when players aren’t in game-shape.

But last Sunday, President Duterte announced that Metro Manila would be downgraded to MECQ from GCQ starting today until Aug. 18. Another evaluation will be made by the IATF if Metro Manila is to be extended under MECQ or elevated back to GCQ or downgraded to ECQ after Aug. 18. Under MECQ, only solo or individual training is allowed, meaning no supervision. Teams are not permitted to restart practice even in limited numbers under MECQ. So this sets back the PBA’s timetable.

It’s not certain if the PBA will postpone the testing this week, considering another round of testing is expected three days before the restart of practice which will be no earlier than Aug. 18 assuming Metro Manila returns to GCQ. Once practice is restarted, the PBA will require testing every 10 days and a closed circuit protocol or a routine of home-to-gym-to-home.

The rise in COVID-19 cases in the country is alarming and it’s critical for government to institute steps to curb the high incidence. Delaying the restart of PBA practice is a consequence of placing Metro Manila back under MECQ and it’s something that can’t be avoided. Until it’s safe to restart practice under GCQ, pro athletes must continue to be patient and appreciate that what the government is doing is for the good of everyone.

In the NBA “bubble,” testing is done for about 350 players every night with results out the next day. Testing is also done for coaches, team personnel and others involved in the NBA restart. The NBA required players to be tested from June 23-30 before entering the “bubble” by the second week of July. Upon checking in at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, near Orlando, they had to do a 48-hour quarantine and test negative twice before cleared to practice and play. Starting last July 20 or 10 days before the “seeding” games began, no player or coach has tested positive. So it appears that the NBA’s stringent measures are paying off. Even masked courtside reporters are required to interview players or coaches, using microphones with extensions, from a distance on TV.