NEW YORK, Ny. (WRIC) — Based on declining COVID-19 infection rates across the country and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Football League has announced to teams they will suspend enforcement of all COVID-19 protocols, effective immediately.
The NFL sent a memo to staff members of all 32 teams with the news on Thursday. It was included in the memo that all teams are still required to follow state and local laws wherever they are located, and that any team who wishes to continue with COVID-19 mitigation efforts can do so. The memo also states protocols may come back if COVID infection trends necessitate it.
“We will continue to prioritize the health and safety of players, coaches and staff, as we have throughout the pandemic,” the memo says. “Should there be a reason to reimpose aspects of the Protocols, or to take other measures, we will work closely with clubs, the NFLPA and our respective experts, and local, state and federal public health officials to continues to safeguard the health of the NFL community.”
Some of the protocols that will be suspended include testing trailers at team facilities, regular testing of unvaccinated players, signage enforcing mask-wearing and social distancing, capacity limits in team facilities and weight rooms and Kinexon devices on all players and staff to monitor close contact.
According to NFL.com, 94.6% of players and nearly 100% of NFL personnel are vaccinated, and 30 of the 32 teams are over 95% vaccinated.
