By JEREMIAH SEVILLA
ANGELES CITY ‒ PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial said Wednesday night that the report of a suspected coronavirus (Covid-19) case inside the bubble will serve as a wake-up call for the whole delegation to adhere to the strict health protocols.
“Wake-up call sa’tin ‘to na ‘wag tayo masyadong relax. Totoo naman na nasa bubble tayo pero ganun pa rin, kailangan natin sundin ‘yung protocols,” said Marcial after the games at the Smart 5G-powered AUF Sports Arena.
The PBA reported earlier that a referee tested positive for Covid-19 following his reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test on Monday, October 19.
The referee was rushed early Wednesday to the Athlete’s Village ‒ the national quarantine facility–in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac to undergo a confirmatory RT-PCR test and a 14-day quarantine.
Later in the afternoon, the PBA, Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said in a joint statement that the suspected case yielded a negative result from an antigen test at the Athlete’s Village, raising the possibility that he might be a false positive.
“Sinasabi samin ng mga medical experts, mukhang false positive,” said Marcial.
“Pero pinag-iingat pa rin natin. Katulad ng sinabi ko, hihintayin natin ang resulta kasi malamang false positive ito,” he added.
NLEX coach Yeng Guiao, one of the prime movers of the PBA bubble in Pampanga, lauded the three parties’ immediate action on the incident.
“We really don’t know how it got here, where it came from but so far I have nothing but praises for how Clark, the BCDA and PBA itself have been conducting this tournament,” said Guiao after steering the Road Warriors to their first win in the bubble at the expense of NorthPort, 102-88.
The former vice-governor of Pampanga added that there is no need to press the alarm button yet.
“The good thing about it is when something goes wrong, they’re still able to maintain control, they’re still able to run it professionally just like what we’re doing,” he said.
“Sa akin I’m not really worried or in a state of panic or whatever. These people know what they’re doing. They can handle the situation.”
