Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
UConn Cancels Football Season; NCAA Drops Many Fall Championships
The Wall Street Journal: UConn Becomes First Major Program To Cancel Football Season
The University of Connecticut announced Wednesday that it will not play football in 2020, becoming the first major Division I program to forgo competition due to health concerns related to the coronavirus. The move comes as Connecticut, which is an independent, was also having trouble shoring up its schedule. The Huskies have had three games canceled and two others were in jeopardy because major conferences have called off nonconference games. (Higgins, 8/5)
Politico: NCAA Ditches Fall Championships For Hundreds Of Schools
Athletes at hundreds of colleges and universities won't participate in fall sports championships this year, after the NCAA's second- and third-tier divisions canceled postseason competitions Wednesday. Division II and Division III officials nixed their fall postseasons after the NCAA's governing board announced earlier Wednesday that each division could make its own call on whether to cancel the competitions amid the coronavirus pandemic. But administrators for higher-profile NCAA Division I programs have yet to pull the plug. (Perez Jr., 8/5)
The Wall Street Journal: Dartmouth Is The Blueprint For NFL Success In 2020. Yes, Dartmouth.
Buddy Teevens came up with a crazy idea because he needed one. Dartmouth’s football team lost every one of its games in 2008. It won only two in 2009. Teevens knew just two things for certain: his team’s injury rate was really high and its success rate was really low. Teevens’s radical plan to turn around an Ivy League football program a decade ago is now the unlikely blueprint for every team in the NFL. Dartmouth eliminated full-contact practices. Injuries plummeted. Success skyrocketed. Rethinking how football teams have practiced for over a century made Dartmouth healthier—and better. (Beaton, 8/5)
AP: NBA Releases Testing Results, No Players Confirmed Positive
The NBA’s bubble is still working. The league released its latest results Wednesday for coronavirus tests performed on players participating in the restarted season at Walt Disney World, and the numbers are still perfect. Of the 343 players tested since results were last announced July 29, none has been confirmed positive. That means no player has tested positive since entering the so-called bubble last month. (Reynolds, 8/5)
In cruise line news —
AP: US Cruises Are Off Through October After Infections Overseas
With new coronavirus clusters sprouting aboard ships overseas, the U.S. cruise industry is extending its suspension of operations through October. The Cruise Lines International Association, which represents more than 50 companies and 95% of ocean-going cruise capacity, said Wednesday that if conditions in the U.S. change, it would consider allowing short, modified sailings. A no-sail order for U.S. waters initially issued by the Centers for Disease Control in March has been extended through Sept. 30. The CLIA has extended its travel suspension twice. (Durbin, 8/5)
AP: The Latest: Virus Cases On Norwegian Cruise Ship Reach 53
The number of people on a Norwegian cruise ship who have tested positive for the coronavirus has reached 53.Following the outbreak on the MS Roald Amundsen, the ship’s owner halted all cruises on Monday and Norway closed its ports to cruise ships for two weeks. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health said that during its two journeys last month, a total of 37 crew members and 16 passengers have tested positive. The passengers all registered as living in Norway. (8/6)
