(Reuters) – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Soccer (MLS) said on Monday no new positive COVID-19 cases were uncovered in the latest rounds of testing at their respective bubble-like campuses at Disney World in Florida.
When the NBA, which will resume its season on July 30 at Disney World without spectators, released its previous COVID-19 update a week ago, it said two of the 322 players who had arrived at the campus since July 7 had tested positive. But none of the 346 players tested since July 13 were positive.
In the event that a player on the campus returns a confirmed positive test in the future, the NBA said he will be isolated until he clears rules established by the league and the players’ union.
MLS kicked off its season this month but two clubs – Nashville SC and FC Dallas – were removed after players and a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. None of the 1,106 individuals tested between July 18-19 were “newly confirmed positive” for the coronavirus, it said.
The NBA, which halted its season in March, will have 22 of its 30 teams play eight seeding games to determine a full 16-team playoff field that will follow the traditional post-season format with four best-of-seven series.
All games, practices and housing are at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside the Orlando resort, which has multiple hotels and arenas, and allows the league to limit outside exposure.
The MLS semifinals and final are scheduled for next month.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto and Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Richard Pullin)
