It was recently announced that 13 members of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team have tested positive for the coronavirus. This is not the first professional sports team to be hit hard by the virus and most likely will not be the last. However, for the Cardinals, there are rumors going around that the players visited a casino and that is how they contracted the virus. Officials of the team say this is not true.
President of baseball operations for the Cardinals, John Mozeliak, stated that there is no proof that any player went to a casino. Mozeliak went on to say that if one of the team members was at a casino, it would be disappointing.
The MLB team has been in quarantine since last Thursday in Milwaukee. A total of seven players have the virus and six staff members as well, all testing positive since quarantining. These individuals will stay in Milwaukee and be tested each day.
Because of the positive tests, the four-game series between the Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers has been postponed. There are plans for the team to get back to its regular schedule by this Friday, facing the Chicago Cubs in Missouri.
Rob Manfred, the MLB Commissioner, has been disappointed with recent outbreaks within the league. The news regarding the cardinals comes just one week after the Miami Marlins revealed 21 players and staff members have the virus.
Casino Cleanup
It is still unclear as to why it was suspected that players from the Cardinals went to a casino. If it is true, we expect some type of witness statements, images or other information that backs this claim. For casinos, the venues have been shut down for months, with gambling facilities reopening starting in May, depending on the location.
With most casinos, there are coronavirus protocols in place that must be followed. This includes cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces. With regular cleaning, it is believed that the coronavirus will not be an issue within the casinos.
However, there have been cases where employees of gambling venues point out that protocols are not being followed. You also have guests who do not want to wear masks or follow social distancing measures.
With all this combined, casinos could potentially become problem areas soon. Across the US, the number of positive cases of the coronavirus seems to be increasing. Some health experts are calling for a shut down again, but that doesn’t seem likely.
In the casino industry, venues in certain states have shut back down to clean after employees tested positive for the virus. This is the right protocol as it allows for proper cleaning and disinfecting, so the space is safe for guests once again.
It will be interesting to see if information comes to light involving the Cardinals and a casino visit. For now, it seems the rumors are slowing down and everyone is taking the officials of the team at their word that a casino visit was not involved.
