PBA ‘off to good start’ with zero COVID-19 cases anew

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CLARK FREEPORT — The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) announced Monday afternoon that it is enjoying zero COVID-19 infection rate inside its multi-site competition bubble.

All 12 teams have yielded negative results after the second round of Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test administered on Oct. 13.

“I actually called Sec. (Vince) Dizon earlier this morning and told him (about the development),” commissioner Willie Marcial told the Inquirer.

“He just reminded me to keep observing the health protocols and wished us for our continued success,” he added.

Dizon is one of the national government’s “testing czars,” and the Bases Conversion and Development Corporation’ president.

Bubble delegates are subjected to undergo RT-PCR tests every two weeks, depending on the date of arrival. The screening is shouldered by the Clark Development Corporation.

The league’s chief, however, noted that the tally does not include late arrivals—like Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar, LA Tenorio, and Alaska’s Maverick Ahanmisi among others.

Also waiting for their second screening are the last batch of the league’s staff, and the five journalists covering the reboot. They entered the bubble on Oct. 7, a week after the teams arrived.

Still, it’s something that’s worth celebrating, according to Marcial.

“We’re off to a good start,” he said.

The league is requiring delegates, including late arrivals, to undergo RT-PCR tests before five days before traveling to Clark, and then another upon arrival to ensure that the competition bubble—the first of its kind in all of Asia—is free from the coronavirus.