The Dodgers Are Taking Extra Precautions Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
The Dodgers are joining in with the rest of baseball in taking extra steps to avoid a Coronavirus outbreak. While there is not necessarily a fear of the virus reaching camp, it is being done out of an overabundance of caution.
#Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten said team is gathering information, in contact with LA Public Health Dept. Will talk to players on Friday about coronavirus and necessary precautions. So far, cancelling games or playing in empty stadiums has not been discussed or even suggested
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 5, 2020
The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a respiratory illness that is capable of spreading person to person. Teams around the Major Leagues have already stopped signing autographs fro fans or have encouraged players to not take items from fans to sign. The Dodgers could potentially head down that path if things get extreme.
One thing of note, players might be told to curtail signing autographs. The person-to-person contact of passing baseballs, pens, etc. is something that is not recommended by public health officials. "We might have to moderate that behavior," Kasten said.
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 5, 2020
If the Dodgers were forced to stop signing autographs, they may look to another method being utilized around the league. Some teams have taken to signing balls ahead of time and passing them out during would-be autograph sessions.
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[adace-ad id=”120372″]Dodgers’ CEO and President Stan Kasten elaborated on the team’s efforts to make sure their players stay safe.
We’re not completely clear yet on what is best, but we get new information every day. We all are operating with the same information. None of it’s great news, but they have stressed also that this is not a time to be panicking. So, we are in the process of finalizing what kind of procedures we’ll be doing going forward.
We feel that based on the recent fears of the Coronavirus perpetuated by media outlets, we must stress that there is no current threat to the team or organization at the moment with this virus. The Dodgers have simply taken measures to ensure that this will never be an issue.
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Protecting players from fans by creating a barrier between fans and players is a really bad idea. Refusing to sign autographs is just plain dumb. When players leave the ballpark will MLB quarantine them in their own homes or other facilities to prevent any social interaction. We live and interact in societies.
Attendance at sporting events is already going to take a hit because of this coronavirus thing. If you treat fans like dirt, the hit will be bigger. The common flu has a mortality rate of about 1 percent. The mortality rate of coronavirus has been estimated at 2 to 3.5 percent. Should we all retire into plastic bubbles over this? Should we stop living?
There are some measures that should be taken, not to protect the millionaire players though, but to protect the fans. All food prep areas should be sanitized on a more frequent basis. All food prep workers should wear masks and gloves. Bathrooms should be sanitized more frequently. If you want to keep fans coming to the park, you better convince them that you are taking every measure possible to protect them. Telling them that they are viewed as a threat to players will not go over well.
I disagree. In the tight environment that is the locker room, any sickness spreads to 100% easily. This is unknown and it is hoped that we all may have overreacted, but there are too many questions this soon.
A few games that are cancelled or without fans will do little long-term harm. A sickness that is at the stadium, will cause fans to stay away for fear of it lingering. This is long term. We need to take our time and see where it ends.
The other issue are the concessions. I too am concerned. I am also worried about an ill fan. Is a sick person going to grab the spoon that gets the onions for the hot dogs? One sick person infects the next 100 people who use that spoon.
The health of the community cannot compare to a game. We may have to have the workers give us pre-packaged onions and packages of mustard and ketchup. Maybe the hot dogs come prepared already.
The media is salivating at any report of any virus anywhere and to show the shocking pictures. They thrive on drama, whether fact or not. They never show the ones who healed up. They stay with the sick, the few empty store shelves at Costco from last week rather than the fully stocked shelves at Ralph’s and Vons from today.