LA sports fans’ cheers turn to health officials’ COVID-19 fears as new cases rise
With two titles in three weeks, Los Angeles is at the epicenter of the sports world but now its championship-celebrating fans have put health officials on alert.
Celebrations for the newly crowned NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in mid-October had scarcely faded before throngs of fans returned to the streets late Tuesday to cheer the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first World Series victory in 32 years.
Weeks of screaming, shouting, mask-less revelers rooting on the Lakers and Dodgers have alarmed Los Angeles County health officials, who issued a health advisory this week as daily positive cases climbed dramatically in October on the backs of private gatherings and public celebrations.
“As cases are increasing in our community, so is the risk of COVID-19. We have a lot to celebrate in the county and it is critical that we all take action to slow the spread as we do,” Muntu Davis, Los Angeles County public health officer, said this week in a statement imploring Angelenos to avoid high-risk public celebrations.
“There have been too many instances of people unknowingly spreading the virus at these types of gatherings, which, sadly, has led to new infections, serious illness and death,” Davis said.
Now new health concerns dog the World Series champion Dodgers as they return home to Los Angeles with their star third baseman Justin Turner.
Major League Baseball announced Wednesday it will investigate Turner for his on-field celebration following the Dodgers’ World Series victory Tuesday night after testing positive for the coronavirus, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Turner was pulled late in the Dodgers’ series-clinching 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays after his positive test and was placed in isolation.
But a maskless Turner defied safety protocols, celebrating with his Dodger teammates and their families at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, embracing players, kissing his wife and posing for a tightly packed team photo.
Major League Baseball in a noontime statement said Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office “is beginning a full investigation into the matter.”
“Turner was placed into isolation for the safety of those around him,” the statement read in part, adding that Turner disregarded agreed-upon safety protocols. “While a desire to celebrate is understandable, Turner’s decision to leave isolation and enter the field was wrong and put everyone he came in contact with at risk,” the statement continued. League officials added that Turner “emphatically refused to comply” with MLB security and returned to the field.
The Dodgers’ traveling party received nasal swab tests Tuesday night and both the Dodgers and Rays were tested again Wednesday, league officials said in the statement. The teams were still awaiting approval to travel home from Texas on Wednesday.
“Travel back to their home cities will be determined after being approved by the appropriate authorities,” said league officials.
The Turner development comes as cases in Los Angeles County have jumped to nearly 1,200 per day, up from around 940 per day in early October, according to health officials. Interviews with contract tracers in the field over the last three weeks showed a full 55% of those who knew they had possibly been exposed to the virus attended an event or gathering where multiple people were ill.
“Gatherings in large crowds to watch games indoors, people aren’t wearing their face coverings, people are yelling a lot — that’s just not sensible,” Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s public health director, told the Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles County and neighboring Riverside and San Bernardino counties are home to a combined 15 million people in a state of roughly 40 million. All remain mired in the most restrictive purple tier. Many non-essential business operations remain closed.
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 3:22 PM.
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