The New York Yankees have been the center of attention in and out of the baseball world as they deal with eight cases of “breakthrough” Covid 19. Breakthrough cases are rare but more common among fully vaccinated individuals in congregate situations. What is so unusual about the Yankee situation is that it spread from one to eight staff in just four days. Yesterday was the first day since the traveling party arrived in Tampa, Florida, that the Yankees did not report a new case.
First, it’s important to know what a “breakthrough case is. It’s when a person has been fully vaccinated (1 shot of the J&J or 2 shots of the Pfizer or Maderna) and has passed the two-week mark for full protection and then contracts the Covid 19 virus. These cases are extremely rare. There have only been 9,220 cases among 92 million that were fully vaccinated. Of those, there were 835 hospitalizations and 132 deaths.
General manager Cashman said:
Everyone in the Yankees’ traveling party of 50 to 60 people is being tested three times a day using polymerase chain reaction, saliva and rapid tests. Thursday was the first day of no new positive test results since the outbreak began, Cashman said. “Maybe it’s slowing down,†he said.
“I believe the variant that we’re dealing with has been pretty aggressive,†Cashman said, without identifying the variant.
The New York Yankees were the first team to reach an 85% vaccination rate, and at this point, several of the health protocols were relaxed per an agreement with MLB and the players union. Some of those related rules are that those in the dugout would no longer be mandated to wear masks, players could sit in the sauna together, with several other restrictions being lifted.
Some players at taking this situation with more intensity than others. A good example is that Jameson Taillon, who normally works out before a start in the weight room, chose to do his workouts masked far out in the right field at Tropicana Field. Last night he did not have that luxury when he joined about 50 others in the traveling party when they boarded their Delta flight to Baltimore. It is assumed they were all masked and keeping as much distance from each other as possible.
The New York Yankees, MLB, the New York Board of Health, and the CDC alike are watching the Yankees’ situation closely to see what they can learn moving forward. As of this writing, there are no plans to change the Yankee schedule in Baltimore. After the Baltimore series, the Yankees are scheduled to have a 4 game set at Globe Life Park, home of the Texas Rangers. It will be the first time they will play in a 100% occupancy park since 2019.
This post was published on 2021-05-14 09:49