NBA criticized for allowing players to be widely tested

Since the positive test of Rudy Gobert at Covid-19 which put an end to the NBA season, several teams have hastened to screen their players, causing criticism, while the vast majority of Americans have to wait a long time to get there .

"The tests should not be aimed at the wealthy but at the sick": by this tweet, the mayor of New York Bill de Blasio expressed on Tuesday evening a feeling shared by many anonymous on social networks, since basketball players of the League have been subject to this measure.

We wish them a speedy recovery. But, with all due respect, an entire NBA team should NOT get tested for COVID-19 while there are critically ill patients waiting to be tested.

Tests should not be for the wealthy, but for the sick. https://t.co/7uQlL3zc7Z

The Democratic Party member reacted to the announcement made a few hours earlier by the Brooklyn Nets, informing that four players, including star Kevin Durant, had contracted the coronavirus. "We wish them a speedy recovery, but (…) an entire NBA team should not be tested for the Covid-19, while there are patients in critical condition waiting to be tested", a- he lamented.

Difficult to access tests

The situation is such in the United States that there are now more than 7,700 confirmed cases, 118 dead. Many experts have denounced the delay with which the tests were made available, the tedious procedure to obtain them and their cost - which can amount to several hundreds of dollars -, hard to assume for some 30 million Americans without health insurance.

“The system is not armed for what we need now. It's a fail. We are not organized so that people can have easy access to the tests as in other countries, "lambasted the director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, before Congress on March 11.

The NBA boss hopes to at least save part of the season via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/SAV9lQJzwJ

That day, a few hours later, Adam Silver learned that Rudy Gobert had contracted the disease. Immediately, as the Utah team got ready to kick off their game in Oklahoma City, the NBA boss decided to suspend the season indefinitely.

In the process, the other Jazz players and the staff were subjected to tests, before being placed in quarantine. Like them, five other teams having faced them in the previous ten days: the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors.

The Nets claim to have used private laboratories

Two other players tested positive, Gobert's Utah teammate Donovan Mitchell and Detroit's Christian Wood. To which were added the four basketball players from Brooklyn, whose identity has not been revealed, except that of Durant. In a statement, the Nets responded to Bill de Blasio that they decided to screen their staff, "after noting that several players and other employees were showing symptoms."

"We obtained the tests through a private laboratory and paid for them ourselves because we did not want to have affected access to public resources at the CDC (Center for Disease Prevention and Control)" , they said.

"We followed the guidelines"

An alternative path also chosen by the Oklahoma Thunder, which opened on Wednesday, while Adam Silver took the defense of all the franchises that tested their players. "I understand of course his argument in that it is unfortunate that we are in this position where a sorting is done when it comes to doing these screenings, so the fundamental problem is obviously that there is not enough of available tests, "he said first on ESPN.

"But in terms of the NBA, we followed the recommendations of public health authorities," he said, recalling that the Jazz players had not asked to be tested last Wednesday and "had to follow the instructions from an Oklahoma health official, otherwise he would not have let them leave the locker room. ”

Rudy Gobert donates $ 500,000 for health services via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/c7v9bd6dnk

"I understand from a public health point of view why some people react this way, but we followed the instructions," insisted the NBA boss, stressing that the games could have continued "several more days" if Gobert n had not been tested. "The strength of eight teams have been tested, as well as members of other teams who have shown symptoms," he said, adding that two basketball players "presented mild symptoms while the others remained asymptomatic".

Asked by an NBC reporter on Wednesday if he thought it "normal for non-symptomatic professional athletes to be tested when other people cannot," Donald Trump replied, "No, I wouldn't say that. , but it may be the story of life. "

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