New York Mayor Bill De Blasio has returned to speak out by criticizing the Brooklyn Nets‘ choice to test the whole team for the COVID-19: “I wish them all a speedy recovery, but with all due respect, an entire NBA team should NOT be tested for COVID-19 when there are critically ill patients waiting for the same exam. The tests shouldn’t be for the rich but for the sick.”
The answer of the Nets and the NBA
A strong opinion of Bill De Blasio, to which the Nets replied in the first instance claiming that they paid for their own staff – by turning to private health facilities – the tests carried out on all their staff, but also wanted to intervene on the subject the NBA itself, to recall the danger of a contagion for a league player, given its numerous displacements and the opportunity to be able to get in touch with many people:
“Different authorities in public health and the team doctors themselves are concerned that – given the direct contact between many players and the interactions with the public, in addition to a very intense travel calendar – a positivity among the players can accelerate the infection. In addition, by choosing to publicly declare their positivity, our hope is that they will be able to attract the attention especially of the youngest on the risks related to the infection itself, in particular for those with already precarious health conditions and for the elderly.”
