Coronavirus pandemic

Vulnerable athletes, staff weigh health risks as sport resumes

Olympic 4x100m medley gold medallist Kathleen Baker in action during a 2018 meet. The American, who suffers from Crohn's disease, needs to choose her competitions carefully when the swimming season resumes.
Olympic 4x100m medley gold medallist Kathleen Baker in action during a 2018 meet. The American, who suffers from Crohn's disease, needs to choose her competitions carefully when the swimming season resumes. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

NEW YORK • Kathleen Baker, 23, an Olympic swim champion, began wearing masks on planes long before the coronavirus outbreak began to avoid contracting illnesses that are especially hard for her to shake off because she has Crohn's disease, which causes inflammation in the digestive system.

Footballer Jordan Morris, 25, the United States and Seattle Sounders forward, wears a blood sugar monitor on his arm - even on the field - to keep track of his Type 1 diabetes.

And Dusty Baker, a former baseball player and now Houston Astros manager, has endured many health complications: prostate cancer, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, an irregular heartbeat and a mini-stroke.

They have managed their underlying health conditions to enjoy successful careers in sport.

But now, with the coronavirus disproportionately afflicting those with such health issues, their personal risks, and those of many other athletes and team staff, are primed to escalate as the gradual reopening of America feeds momentum for a return of sport.

And many are balancing potential exposure to the coronavirus and their health needs against the zeal to play.

"It's scary for everyone," Morris said after taking part in the voluntary, socially distanced practices that began last week in Major League Soccer, which plans to resume its season next month.

"The unknown of the coronavirus... There's definitely that underlying sense of uncertainty."

As part of their plans to reopen, sports are devising specific precautions for the most vulnerable returning employees.

For example, Major League Baseball (MLB) is looking at protecting higher-risk players and essential staff by including separate spaces in dugouts and clubhouses; distinct or less crowded travel options; or shifting to remote work or modified hours.

Even then, if high-risk individuals believed that participating in matches would pose "an unreasonable risk" to their health, the league's proposal would allow them to sit out - although it did not take a position on whether players in that situation would continue to be paid.

Morris, who learnt that he had diabetes aged nine, said not returning because of health fears had not crossed his mind. He has felt safe during practice, he said, because the Sounders have done daily temperature and symptom checks, staggered workouts and encouraged frequent hand-washing, and he has managed his diabetes as usual.

"It's so important to take seriously the precautions that are set out for myself and to protect others as well, because there's a lot of people out there that are at a higher risk," said Morris, who wears a mask outside the house and keeps gloves and also hand sanitiser in his car.

Athletes would not be the only ones taking risks. Some essential sports personnel - umpires, referees, coaches, front office executives and members of TV crews - may fall into higher-risk categories.

In baseball, Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez, 55, missed three games last season because of a heart procedure, and the team's assistant general manager, Doug Harris, 50, has battled leukaemia.

Dusty Baker is the oldest manager in baseball at 70.

"I'm not going to take any unnecessary chances," he said.

In San Diego, Kathleen Baker has been training using a friend's backyard pool, the ocean and a home gym. She said she would have to be more judicious about which meets to attend when the swimming circuit resumes.

"When I was younger, my parents used to put red X's on my hands to remind me not to touch my face, because I was getting sick so much," she said. "I just look back on all that and I feel like that's helping me during this time."

NYTIMES

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 27, 2020, with the headline Vulnerable athletes, staff weigh health risks as sport resumes. Subscribe