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NEWS: 10,000 employees from 27 MLB clubs are participating in the largest Covid-19 antibody study in the United States, researchers and players told the Athletic: https://theathletic.com/1746724/2020/04/14/mlb-team-employees-will-be-the-subjects-of-the-u-s-s-largest-covid-19-antibody-study/
This kind of a study across dozens of different communities would have taken years to complete if not for the cooperation of a major sports league, researchers told me.
They are NOT conducting the study with MLB to give pro athletes special treatment. They are interested in ushers, concessionaires, family members, part time employees from all ages/races/genders/socioeconomic backgrounds. In other words, a proper study: https://theathletic.com/1746724/2020/04/14/mlb-team-employees-will-be-the-subjects-of-the-u-s-s-largest-covid-19-antibody-study/
And these are NOT the PCR Covid-19 tests that are in short supply (that tell you whether you have active infection). These are antibody tests that tell you if you ever were infected: https://theathletic.com/1746724/2020/04/14/mlb-team-employees-will-be-the-subjects-of-the-u-s-s-largest-covid-19-antibody-study/
The lead Stanford researcher, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, anticipates having the results from all 10,000 Covid-19 antibody tests by Friday. He says his research should be peer-reviewed and published within two weeks: https://theathletic.com/1746724/2020/04/14/mlb-team-employees-will-be-the-subjects-of-the-u-s-s-largest-covid-19-antibody-study/
MLB declined to tell me which three teams opted out of this study, or why.
Why MLB employees? Testing 10,000 people in dozens of cities across the country during a lockdown that includes people of all ages, races, genders, wealth, etc requires a lot of structured help. All teams send out and collect tests from their people, and provide health counseling
To those who may need it by providing team physicians and counselors. It’s a massive, sensitive undertaking that requires a unique level of organizing and cooperation + support and resources that these sports organizations already have in place: https://theathletic.com/1746724/2020/04/14/mlb-team-employees-will-be-the-subjects-of-the-u-s-s-largest-covid-19-antibody-study/
We have no real hope of re-opening the economy until we have meaningful data on Covid-19 infection and death rates across the US. We need to know what percentage of our population had Covid-19 and survived it to tell us how far into this virus we are. https://theathletic.com/1746724/2020/04/14/mlb-team-employees-will-be-the-subjects-of-the-u-s-s-largest-covid-19-antibody-study/
And anyway, if this groundbreaking study involving MLB employees gives us meaningful data on both the nature of this virus and how and when our economy might be safely re-opened going forward, it will be the best thing the league has done in my lifetime: https://theathletic.com/1746724/2020/04/14/mlb-team-employees-will-be-the-subjects-of-the-u-s-s-largest-covid-19-antibody-study/
Some players and employees have told me they opted out of the test because they are squeamish with needles. (It involves a pinprick blood test of the middle of index finger). Others have embraced the test/want to help the study/want to know if they had the virus.
