Players in the CPBL don't wear masks during games, but others at the venues are required toGETTY IMAGES
The Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan has "successfully been playing games on two levels since April 21," according to Peter Abraham of the BOSTON GLOBE. Richard Wang, a TV and radio broadcaster who this season started calling games in English to satisfy a demand from baseball-starved fans in other countries, explained, "Starting from the moment we enter the parking lot of the stadium, our temperature is taken. Upon entering the building of the ballpark, you must sign your own health declaration form while your temperature is being taken again. Anyone who intends to work on the game must register with the league the day before, as all the names will serve as important pandemic-related information. If your name is not on the list, you are not allowed to come into the stadium." Abraham noted the CPBL's plan to start the season "had to be approved" by governmental experts in medicine and science. CPBL players are "required to wear masks on all trips and eating on the buses is prohibited." The players "do not wear masks during games, but everyone else at the ballpark does, including many of the umpires." In addition, the clubhouses are "closed to the media and interviews take place at a distance," as the player or manager being interviewed "uses a microphone so everyone can hear" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/3).
PLAYER'S POINT-OF-VIEW: Former NBAer Jeremy Lin, who plays for the Chinese Basketball Association Beijing Ducks, said everyone in the country is "back to work," but added that does not mean everything is "back to normal." Lin: "I don’t think people are as ready to just be all the way out and about in terms of like you go to restaurants, and you may only see people in groups of 2-4, you don’t see big parties of 6, 8, 10. Big-group gatherings like concerts or sporting events or nightlife, those things aren’t really happening. And then everyone is wearing a mask, 100 percent people are wearing masks. Those are a few ways that things have changed, but in many ways, things are very reminiscent of what things were like before." He added he was "tested before quarantine and after quarantine, and honestly, anywhere you go any time, every restaurant, every mall, everything everywhere, every time I enter my apartment, I get my temperature checked, too." More Lin: "They’re constantly monitoring. You can’t go and eat at a restaurant without leaving all of your information, and there’s this app that shows your body temperature and whether you had symptoms and where you’ve been the last 2-4 weeks. I mean, it tracks basically everything that you’re doing and where you’re going, and you have to show that and update that every time you go anywhere new" (N.Y. POST, 5/3).
