Ravens dealt with 'four unique strains of COVID-19,' team president says
The team was decimated by the virus last week forcing the NFL to change their schedule
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Baltimore Ravens dealt with “four unique strains of COVID-19” at the team’s facility, team president Dick Cass said in a statement Saturday.
The organization faced an outbreak that caused the team to play a rare Wednesday afternoon game.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Based on information provided by the NFL, we have learned that we had at least four unique strains of COVID-19 in our facility. Three of the four were stopped and not spread within our organization,” Cass said in the statement. “Unfortunately, the fourth was a highly-contagious strain and spread throughout our organization.”
Cass said that despite the organization’s best effort to comply with NFL and NFLPA protocol for handling the virus and to prevent the contraction and spread, they learned “not everyone at the Ravens followed the protocol thoroughly.”
“We cannot undo what has occurred. But, we can do our best to learn from what has happened and be vigilant moving forward to ensure that it does not happen again. As the recent experience has shown us, this virus does not need a large opening to spread within an organization, and 99% compliance is not a passing grade when dealing with this virus,” Cass said.
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He added: “To our community, our neighbors, our fans and families, we say: Please learn from what happened here. This virus is serious. Very serious. Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Let’s beat this virus together.”
Last week, several Ravens players and staff members contracted the virus, including quarterback Lamar Jackson. The NFL was forced to change their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers slated for Thanksgiving Day to Tuesday, and then to Wednesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Ravens’ game against the Dallas Cowboys was then moved to this Tuesday.
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It’s unclear whether the NFL will drop the hammer on the team as they have with other teams that violated rules this year.