Daily COVID-19 surveillance testing for most NBA players, coaches, and Tier 1 personnel ended on Saturday, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. An enhanced testing window had been in place since Dec. 26, accounting for a post-holiday surge and the arrival of the Omicron variant.
“Individuals remain subject to testing if symptomatic, exposed, or (facing an) enhanced directive by the league office,” Charania tweeted. “Players who remain unvaccinated or eligible for a booster (while not yet taking it) will remain under daily surveillance and gameday testing through Feb. 17. The number of player and staff cases have declined substantially, recently — and 100% of staff have received the booster.”
For the Rockets, whose entire roster has received booster shots, this should make for a substantial reduction in absences due to health and safety protocols. During the recent enhanced testing window, Houston had 6 of its 16 active players (DJ Augustin, Armoni Brooks, Usman Garuba, KJ Martin, Garrison Mathews, and Jae’Sean Tate) unavailable for a period of time due to the league’s protocol system.
Going forward, while symptomatic COVID-19 cases or “close contact” exposure determinations certainly can’t be ruled out, the odds of absences for boosted teams like Houston should decline significantly.
Further clarification: Players who remain unvaccinated or eligible for booster will remain under daily surveillance and game day testing through Feb. 17.
Number of player and staff cases have declined substantially recently — and 100 percent of staff have received booster. https://t.co/CTE9In9viO
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 14, 2022
