By JEREMIAH SEVILLA
SMART CLARK GIGA CITY – Four more teams underwent RT-PCR tests as the third cycle of the mandatory swab testing resumed Thursday here in the PBA Philippine Cup bubble.
Players, coaches and staff of Barangay Ginebra, NLEX, NorthPort, Rain or Shine and San Miguel went through a third swab testing at the Quest Hotel.
Magnolia, Meralco, Phoenix, TNT and Terrafirma had theirs on Wednesday since they were the first to arrive at the official residence of the 350-man delegation last September 28.
Meanwhile, Alaska and Blackwater will end the third round of testing on Friday.
The Aces and the Elite took a swab retest last week due to fear of exposure to the first “suspect case”, a referee, which later on turned out to be a “false positive” after getting negative results from antigen and confirmatory RT-PCR tests conducted at the Athlete’s Village mega quarantine facility in New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac.
The same scenario happened to the second “suspect case”, a player of Blackwater, last Sunday.
The two “false positive” cases are just finishing their 10-day quarantine in NCC before getting the go signal to return to the bubble.
All the 12 teams tested negative in the first two cycles of swab testing, which is done every two weeks as part of the strict protocols being implemented to keep the safety and integrity of the bubble – the first of its kind in the country.
Late arrivals, league staff, members of the media, TV crew and employees of Quest and Angeles University Foundation – the playing venue – also came out negative on their latest swab tests.
