Dr. Daniel Eichner believes we will see sports return without fans for a period of timeSPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL
Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory President Dr. Daniel Eichner said it is necessary to “know more” about infection rates, immunity rates and quick testing programs in regard to COVID-19 before it can be assessed whether fans will be able to return to venues before a vaccine. Eichner, speaking yesterday during the CAA World Congress Comes To You, said he believes we will “definitely see sports return without fans for a period of time” as more is known about “how this virus is infected, how we can test for it and protect from it.” Eichner: “Without knowing that, it’s impossible to gauge on when we can actually get fans back into the stadiums.” Eichner added it is “too early to start planning” for measures that could be taken at venues once fans are allowed back. He said, “There’s not going to be one quick fix to say, ‘Hey, if your temperature’s below this you’re fine to go.’ I don’t think we’re there yet.”
TESTING PROCESS: Eichner is working with MLB on the first large-scale national antibody study for COVID-19, and he said they have “pretty much finished with the processing of all the analysis.” Eichner: “We’re looking at submitting a paper very shortly for peer review process. We’re very close to having something on this work.” Eichner reiterated that MLB’s involvement with the study was “purely to get the important information that we need to drive public policy decisions” and that they “get no benefit out of this.” Meanwhile, Eichner said the “question I get asked most often” is whether or not the presence of antibodies mean immunity from COVID-19. Eichner: “We're not there yet. That's really important information that I would love to see get out there because that would really help drive public health policy if you knew what the true prevalence was of the infection rate and then also what that level of immunity would look like. That would be crucial to get everything moving again.”
