BOSTON — “How did he get it?” That’s what Dolly Redmond wants to know. Quarterback Cam Newton’s COVID-19 diagnosis over the weekend came as a shock to the Patriots fan.
“I mean these guys are supposed to be quarantining themselves, not running around and doing things,” said Redmond. “And he knew big game’s comin' up. What’s he doing it for?”
That big game against the Kansas City Chiefs was supposed to be played Sunday, but was moved to Monday night. The Patriots didn’t depart Boston for the Midwest until this morning.
“I just don’t understand,” Redmond said. “Just because you’re more privileged than others, that does not give you the right to not protect yourself from things.”
It is unknown how Cam Newton came down with COVID-19. But so far, no other member of the team has tested positive.
While radio callers and others explored the “how” of Newton’s infection, George Abraham, MD, MPH, Chief of Medicine at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, said it’s important not to lose sight of one of the big ‘whys’ - and that would be the NFL’s chosen method of running the season.
Abraham faults the league for not locking players down in a physically isolated situation like what the NBA and NHL did.
What the NFL has done is conduct frequent testing. But Abraham said that can’t guarantee COVID-19 won’t find a way in.
“So the presumption is that when we test and somebody tests negative that they are non-infectious and for the large majority of cases that is probably true,” said Abraham. “However we do understand two variables to that presumption. Number one, that the test is 100% correct,100% of the time, and in reality we know that no test is 100% accurate, 100% of the time. Number two, in COVID-19, unlike other coronaviruses (such as the common cold) we could actually be infectious as in carrying the virus and/or transmitting the virus for at least two to three days before we manifest with any symptoms.”
Blaming the victim instead of the virus is counterproductive, Abraham said, especially given players were allowed to move freely around, leaving open the possibility Newton came into contact with an asymptomatic spreader.
“I think it’s a natural tendency for us to look down, so to speak, on somebody who’s been infected and say, oh they’ve been a bad person by getting infected,” Abraham said. “That everything they did wrong was why they got infected while others who haven’t been infected are people who did everything right. We tend to assume that there is a moral equation to it. Which may not entirely be true.”
While it is true President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis (and that of numerous others) was preceded by a Rose Garden event at which there was no physical distancing and rare use of masks, some become infected with the virus even though they took precautions.
And stigmatizing COVID-19 patients has the potential to hurt everyone, Abraham said.
“Unquestionably stigmatization leads to people shying away from getting help, from being transparent and honest about their diagnosis,” he said. “And from being able to get treatment in a timely fashion. Clearly stigmatization doesn’t work. We know that from our HIV experience. We know that from our hepatitis C experience.”
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