Dr. Fauci: Football Games ‘The Perfect Set Up for Spreading’ the Virus

Dr. Anthony Fauci sees a football game with an infected player as “the perfect set up spreading” the coronavirus.

In a recent interview with NBC Sports’ Peter King, Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that testing players would be a vital component of any plan to bring sports back. The doctor also stressed the need to take swift action to quarantine players who test positive.

“Sweat does not do it,” Fauci said. “This is a respiratory virus, so it’s going to be spread by shedding virus. The problem with virus shedding is that if I have it in my nasal pharynx, and it sheds and I wipe my hand against my nose—now it’s on my hand. You see, then I touch my chest or my thigh, then it’s on my chest or my thigh for at least a few hours. Sweat as such won’t transmit it. But if people are in such close contact as football players are on every single play, then that’s the perfect set up for spreading. I would think that if there is an infected football player on the field—a middle linebacker, a tackle, whoever it is it—as soon as they hit the next guy, the chances are that they will be shedding virus all over that person.

“If you really want to be in a situation where you want to be absolutely certain, you’d test all the players before the game. And you say, Those who are infected: Sorry, you’re sidelined. Those who are free: Get in there and play.”

At this point, it doesn’t appear that testing would be available in the kind of quantities needed to test the entire league. Though, as we get closer to September, that may change.

Fauci also spoke about his own personal contact with a White House staffer who is infected with the virus.

“If I test today, and I’m negative, you don’t know if I got exposed tomorrow,” Fauci said. “There’s no guarantee that you’re going to get exposed and be positive the next day. To give you an example, you’re probably reading in the newspapers that there’s an infection in the White House. I was exposed to that person. So I immediately got tested. I am negative. So, I’m negative yesterday. I don’t know if I’m going to be negative Monday. Understand? It’s almost an impossible situation.

“To be 100 percent sure, you’ve got to test every day. But that’s not practical and that’s never going to happen. But you can diminish dramatically by testing everybody Saturday night, Sunday morning, and say OK, only negative players play.”

That dynamic, though necessary, will give head coaches a headache they haven’t had to contend with in the past. While players frequently are “game time” decisions in terms of their injuries, coaches normally have a good idea of whether the player can play and have time to plan if that player can’t play.

Under the coronavirus testing regime, a player who is otherwise perfectly healthy and expected to play could be ruled ineligible the night before the game. The problem expands when you factor in that the player could be a quarterback, a star receiver, or some other impact player.

However, if testing is the NFL’s ticket to getting on the field, and it is, the league will undoubtedly choose to punch that ticket regardless of how it inconveniences coaches.

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn