The NFL is making plans to re-open club facilities under strict guidelines shared with teams yesterday, which require all teams to appoint an “infection control officer” and to closely oversee employees’ health. Up to 75 non-player employees could come back to work in the first phase of the re-opening plan if local governments approve. Teams must have the protocols in place by May 15 “in anticipation of being advised when club facilities will formally reopen,” according to a memo from Commissioner Roger Goodell. No time frame was given for when the first phase might start.
“The protocols are intended to allow for a safe and phased reopening,” Goodell wrote. “The first phase would involve a limited number of non-player personnel. … Clubs would decide which employees could return to the facility and when once facilities reopen.” The first criteria any club must meet: Clearance from state and local governments, which could come within a week or two in some states while could be months off in coronavirus hotspots.
An NFL spokesperson said the principle of equal rules for all 32 teams, first articulated when the league ordered offices closed in March, “remains intact” and the owners would further discuss the matter at their meetings on May 19-20. Total workforces will be capped at 50% of club employees, or 75 people, or whatever local legal limit applies.
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Other steps teams must take:
- Designate an infection control officer, who will be the team’s point person for all COVID-19 prevention and risk mitigation. This includes managing the response if any employee believes they could have been exposed, cleaning and dealing with local health authorities.
- Create an infection response team, which must have a physician with expertise in infectious disease (team doctors are allowed), the ICO, head athletic trainer, the HR director, Chief of security, a mental health clinician and member of the club operations staff. They must create a plan for managing newly discovered infections among employees.
- Educate every employee who returns to the club on COVID-19 safety training, and agree to report health information to the ICO.
- Receive adequate amount of safety and hygiene supplies.
- Implement all operational guidelines mandated by the league, which include phased-in return to work, limited business travel, reconfigured office space to ensure social distancing, keeping workers in designated spaces and discouraging deliveries.
- Club medical facilities can be used only for acutely ill or injured patients who cannot receive care elsewhere. Players are generally not allowed to be on site unless receiving a course of treatment that had been underway when they closed.
