No more stopping PBA team workouts as Metro Manila reverts to GCQ

August 18 ------ NO turning back as PBA teams finally gear up for workouts starting next week. The Commissioner’s Office is already looking at the earliest possible date of Aug. 25 for teams to begin players’ training under a strict health protocol. “Go na ito,” said PBA chief Willie Marcial late Monday night after President Duterte announced that the National Capital Region (NCR) and other nearby provinces are back to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) status on Tuesday.

Under GCQ, the PBA and several other professional leagues are set to start individual workouts. But ballclubs are directed to follow health protocols as provided in the Joint Administrative Order (JAO) jointly signed by the Department of Health (DoH), Games and Amusement Board (GAB), and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). Backbone of the guidelines is the COVID-19 swab testing to be done on all players and personnel before they are allowed to work out.

Nine teams have already been scheduled for the procedure at the Makati Medical Center on August 20 and 21, while the three teams under the San Miguel Corp. umbrella will be tested during the same dates at the SMC headquarters in Ortigas. “Ang result (ng testing) mga two to three days. After nun, puwede na tayong mag-simula,” said Marcial. The only thing that concerns the commissioner is the result of the testing, which he hopes would all turn out to be negative. “Yung resulta, sana wala (positive),” said Marcial. Player or players who will be found positive of the virus won’t be allowed to join the workuts and are required to be quarantined.

Source: spin.ph