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Second wave of Covid-19 could be devastating to 2020 NFL season

Detroit Lions doctor Asheesh Bedi says a second wave of Coronavirus could impact the 2020 season.

NFL football on the sideline during a football game between Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills on November 30, 2014 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. Buffalo defeats Cleveland 26-10. Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

The NFL is allowing teams to re-open their facilities to front office staff, and is attempting to get players back for in-person workouts before the end of June. If that does not work out, the league is hoping training camp could get started by its normal late July schedule.

But, that doesn’t guarantee a full season of football this year. Detroit Lions doctor Asheesh Bedi expressed his concerns to about what a second wave of the novel coronavirus could mean for the 2020 NFL season on Tuesday in an appearance on “The Adam Schefter Podcast.” (by way of the Detroit Free Press)

“I think it’s a real concern,” Bedi said of a potential second wave in the fall or winter. “And obviously that’d be incredibly devastating not just for sports and seasons, but for the economy and so many facets of our life. I think that’s why it’s so critical that our behavior in the upcoming months will have such a critical influence on what we’re seeing in the following months.

“In the fall, it’s really gonna be about continuing those safe measures that might have us avoid seeing a second wave becoming a major or even more devastating second peak.”

States are ending stay-at-home orders independent of one another, so teams aren’t on the same schedule. But, eventually the league will be in full swing. Bedi says “comprehensive and frequent testing” at the pro and collegiate level will be essential to containing the virus and keeping the hopes of a full season alive.