Over 3 years after covid's onset, there's hardly a mention of it in pro, college circles

During a brief stretch last month, the Cincinnati Reds must have felt as if the clock had been turned back three years.

In the midst of a pennant race, a flurry of roster moves was necessary to address a pitching staff that was being depleted not by injury or trade but for covid-19.

“We’re taking some precautions, for sure,” Reds manager David Bell told reporters after four pitchers tested positive. “Not letting anyone in the clubhouse. We’ve asked anyone who’s absolutely not necessary to not be in there.”

The situation was a stark reminder that although the heyday of the coronavirus pandemic is in the past, covid-19 has not entirely gone away.

It never will completely. Though covid case data isn’t as concrete or regularly reported as it was in 2020 and ’21, there has been an uptick in cases in recent months. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported the percentage of statewide emergency department visits with a covid diagnosis tripled during August to a level not reached since last winter.

Although life has long returned to “normal” for professional and college sports teams just as it has for the public, leagues and organizations on occasion still might have covid situations arise that require addressing.

“Pitt athletics always bases its protocol decisions on what is in the best interests of our student-athletes from a health and wellness standpoint,” Pitt athletics department spokesperson E.J. Borghetti said in a statement.

The Atlantic Coast Conference that Pitt belongs to dropped its leaguewide protocols related to covid. Pitt no longer strictly monitors data related to covid cases among its 19 sports teams, according to Pitt spokesman Jared Stonesifer.

“The University does not track or treat student-athletes who have covid-19 or have been exposed to covid-19 differently than the general student population,” Stonesifer said in a statement to the Trib. “As reporting is no longer mandatory, we cannot give an exact case count, but are seeing numbers consistent with our local regions. Students who are experiencing symptoms or have been exposed can contact Student Health Services for testing, and any student who tests positive should isolate in their residence hall or off-campus housing.”

In professional sports, perhaps the lone official vestige of covid in league rules exists via the “covid IL” (injured list) in Major League Baseball. The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t had a verified covid-related absence of personnel from the team since May 2022, and the NFL and its players’ union in March 2022 suspended all of its covid protocols.

During the 2020 and ’21 seasons, that included daily testing, contact tracing, masking and distancing. The NFL touts that the league adapted throughout the pandemic, continually adjusting its policies and, as a result according to the league, had a lower infection rate during the pandemic than society at large.

For the past two seasons, mirroring virtually every other walk of life, the daily routine at NFL practices and games has returned to a pre-pandemic normalcy. Locker rooms that were closed to media and other visitors for two seasons are again open. Whereas as recently as January 2022 it wasn’t uncommon to see a small number of players masked up while in the Steelers’ UPMC Rooney Sports Complex facility on the South Side, during the 2023 season that hasn’t been spotted at all.

The recent spike in cases did not compel changes in the Pirates’ or MLB’s protocols late in the baseball season, either.

According to NHL vice president of communications John Dellapina, the league has instructed teams to follow any covid protocols that are in place from local/state/provincial authorities.

The Penguins last season reported covid cases not unlike any other illness, and that is expected to continue throughout the upcoming season that starts Tuesday. Players who are feeling ill are instructed to report to the medical staff, who then take appropriate steps.

That common-sense approach essentially explains how covid cases are viewed presently across pro sports.

During a nationally televised Monday night game early last week, several Philadelphia Eagles’ players — including quarterback Jalen Hurts and center Jason Kelce — played despite having what was reported as “flu-like symptoms.”

According to transcripts of postgame interviews with Hurts and other Eagles players and coaches, covid was not even breached as the possible cause.

“It feels like everyone in the world is (sick) right now,” Kelce told reporters after that Sept. 25 game. “It’s kind of ramping up again.”

But not enough so that leagues or teams have reimposed strict protocols of the past.