The National Football League has reportedly adopted stricter coronavirus protocols due to an increase in coronavirus cases across the country.
“It has been said many times that our 2020 season cannot be ‘normal’ because nothing about this year is normal,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell shared in a memo obtained by ESPN in a piece published Wednesday. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
“Flexibility and adaptability have been critical to our success to date and we must continue with that approach,” the memo added. (RELATED: Here’s A Glorious Video Of Matthew Stafford Throwing 56 Touchdowns To Calvin Johnson)
According to the report:
Requirements under the intensive protocols, which 28 of the league’s 32 teams have already experienced at some point this season, include virtual team meetings and the wearing of masks by all players and staff at all times while at the facility, including during practice.
The rules also include players and staff continuing to wear contract tracing devices while in the team’s facilities and traveling so that the club and union can identify who they might have been in contact with for a person testing positive for COVID-19.
“As we continue through the season, it will likely be necessary to take further steps to address broader conditions,” the memo continued. “In conjunction with our medical advisers and the NFLPA, we will continue to incorporate our experience and implement enhancements to the protocols and communicate with each of you on a regular basis.”
Other protocols include NFL teams spending a limited amount of time in lockers, “less than 15 minutes per person per session, with sessions scheduled so as to minimize the number of people in the locker room at one time” and a “limit of 10 players and five coaches at any one time in the weight room, regardless of the size of the room,” according to the outlet.
Up until this latest memo, the stricter rules were only in place if a person with a team had tested positive or if the club had played against a team where someone had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The piece noted, that the new regulations will remain in effect for the rest of the 2020 season.