New Jersey, New York and Connecticut have instituted travel advisories calling for people traveling to those states from areas with increasing rates of COVID-19 to quarantine themselves for 14 days once they arrive.
Connecticut doesn’t have an NFL team, but the other two states do and that’s raised questions about how all this will be handled in terms of training camp and the upcoming season. Nine of the 19 states currently on the list are home to 14 NFL teams.
During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was asked about how teams will deal with those regulations by host Bill Lekas. He indicated that professional sports teams would be exempt from the quarantine, although there might be other procedures for them to follow.
“You’re right Bill, that is a tough one,” Murphy said. “We do have a carve-out for essential travel and a professional sports team would qualify for that carve out. We’d probably, without having put this in stone, I’m sure we’d probably want to do one, and more than one, test for the virus when they got here. Or ask them to take it as they’re leaving wherever their host state is. That’s the minimum standard. Your question gets to a very fair point, we -- along with New York and Connecticut -- have asked folks if they’re coming from a hotspot state to self-quarantine for 14 days and get tested. A 14-day quarantine doesn’t work in an NFL schedule. So at least the testing piece would have to be there and I think if anyone is symptomatic or they’ve tested positive already, I’d hope they wouldn’t get on the plane.”
It’s less clear what that would mean for players coming in for training camp, which is set to get underway for the Giants and Jets in a little more than two weeks.