As of 1 p.m. Friday, March 13, test results show that two Maine residents have tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus. Click here for the latest coronavirus news, which the BDN has made free for the public. You can support this mission by purchasing a digital subscription.
An elementary school student in Rhode Island tested positive for the coronavirus after getting an autograph from Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, officials told NBC10.
The student reportedly attended the Jazz and Celtics game in Boston on March 6, which was five days before Gobert became the first of at least two NBA players to test positive for COVID-19. It’s impossible to know whether the child contracted the virus from Gobert or elsewhere. A preschooler in the same Rhode Island town of Westerly tested positive after going on a cruise ship to the Bahamas, according to the report.
On Thursday, the Celtics released a statement expressing skepticism that either Gobert or Donovan Mitchell, another Jazz player who tested positive for the virus, were contagious while at TD Garden.
“Last night, it was learned that a player on the Utah Jazz preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19, and a second case has been reported this morning. The Celtics played the Jazz on Friday, March 6,” the Celtics said. “We have been in constant communication with our Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials, including Larry Madoff MD of the Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences at the Department.
“Specific to the news about the Utah players, the DPH has advised us that based on those players’ health statuses during this period, it is unlikely that anyone from the team came into contact with them while they were contagious.”
Still, the Celtics had players and staff self-quarantine through the weekend if they had close contact with the Utah players. The NBA planned to continue the season without fans in attendance but Gobert’s positive test moved the rim.
Commissioner Adam Silver said he was suspending the season for at least 30 days on Thursday. Gobert, who jokingly touched the microphones and recorders of every reporter the day before testing positive, apologized for his behavior on Instagram.
“The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered,” Gobert said. “At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse.”
The Jazz were on an Eastern Conference road trip before Gobert and Mitchell tested positive for the coronavirus. They played in New York on March 4, Boston on March 6, Detroit on March 7 and hosted the Raptors on March 9.
Rishi Desai, the Chief Medical Officer at Osmosis, suggested people who’ve been in close contact self-quarantine.
“What that means is stay in your home at least five days and maybe beyond that. Some recommend 14 days,” Desai told the Daily News. “During that time, you can stay home at work. But you recognize that if you have symptoms, you make a call to your doctor and hopefully they get you tested.”
Desai worked with the NBA in 2011 to curtail an outbreak of the norovirus (stomach flu) among players, including Dwight Howard. He applauded Silver for postponing the season but is disappointed in the U.S.’s overall response to the pandemic, especially compared to countries like South Korea, which has instituted mass testing.