MLB statement on COVID-19 testing
Major League Baseball issued the following statement today:
“As of today, more than 95% of the tests under the Intake Screening period have been conducted, analyzed and shared with all 30 Clubs. All of the individuals among the 95% have now moved on to the phase that will test them every other day. The remaining number of outstanding tests are expected to be completed today.
“Our plan required extensive delivery and shipping services, including proactive special accommodations to account for the holiday weekend. The vast majority of those deliveries occurred without incident and allowed the protocols to function as planned. Unfortunately, several situations included unforeseen delays. We have addressed the delays caused by the holiday weekend and do not expect a recurrence. We commend the affected Clubs that responded properly by cancelling workouts.
“We appreciate the great cooperation from the players as well as the hard work of the Clubs and many internal and external staff members under these challenging circumstances. The process has not been without some unforeseen difficulties, which are being addressed with the service providers that are essential to the execution of the protocols. It is important to be mindful that nearly all of the individuals have been tested as planned. The health and safety of our players and employees will remain our highest priorities.”
Following are other notes about the testing process:
• MLB collected 3,740 Intake Screening samples during the seven-day period between June 27th and July 3rd, representing all 30 Clubs. As of the end of Sunday, July 5th, the Utah laboratory had reported results for 98% (3,654/3,740) of these samples. The majority of these samples were reported the day after the sample collections occurred.
• 86 results of these samples (2%) remained pending as of this morning. We anticipate that the lab will report the remainder of these pending results this afternoon.
• Pursuant to the Operations Manual, MLB and the MLBPA shifted from intake testing to regular asymptomatic monitoring as of July 3rd, and will now be on an every-other-day testing schedule for all players and Tier 1 staff until the end of the 2020 World Series. Due to the holiday weekend, the Joint Committee advised CDT to test all Clubs one time between July 3rd and July 5th, and to begin the every-other-day schedule on July 6th.
• The Utah laboratory is conducting a level of analysis and turnaround time that is unprecedented in COVID testing, including providing an extra layer of confirmation for all positive test results to rule out false positive concerns. The laboratory is operating on a seven-day-a-week schedule from July 5th through the end of the World Series.