Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room is being required to quarantine after returning from Curacao's WCQ vs Panama. He will miss this weekend's match vs Chicago. He previously had covid and therefore hasn't been vaccinated. He wasn't required to quarantine when re-entering the US after CCL trips. So, does anyone know if this is MLS policy? Is it some federal regulation? He's not under any local health order here. Josef Martinez has reportedly contracted covid while at Copa America. He won't be allowed back into the US until after he tests negative but will he be required to quarantine again once back in Atlanta?
Re: Room, it has to be a league rule. There is no federal quarantine requirement. Whether Martinez is required to quarantine would depend on state law in Georgia. But few, if any, states have had a real, enforced quarantine requirement. Who would enforce it? I'd be surprised if Georgia is any different. Guidelines and requests, sure, but it's been on the honor system in every instance I'm aware of. Which leaves it up to employers to possibly develop their own rules informed by, well, health department and CDC guidelines, I suppose. I don't recall if MLS ever publicly announced their covid protocols, or whether they've released updates to policy based on changing conditions.
The whole thing seems odd. While it's possible for a vaccinated or previously infected person to re-contract covid, it's extremely uncommon and not worth making policy about. Room has antibodies, which is what the vaccination is designed to achieve for people who haven't previously had covid. So the quarantine seems like punishment more than a health measure.
Just because Room has antibodies doesn't mean that he can't still transmit Covid to someone who doesn't have bodies/isn't vaccinated. It's also about stopping the spread of mutations of the virus.
Why is it more important to worry about this with a soccer player but not uncle Jack coming back from Cancun?
People in high(er) profile positions need to set the example. Despite how many people feel, and want to believe, we're still in the middle of a global pandemic. Also, if Room comes back and doesn't quarantine the Crew risk other players getting infected, possibly by a mutated strain which those that are vaccinated may not be protected from. Which could lead to the Crew having to postpone or even forfeit games.
Room has already had covid. He's probably less likely to catch it again than his vaccinated teammates. Cleveland Clinic did a big observational study of their employees, about 52K. It found no difference in covid infection rates between people who had been vaccinated, people who had recovered from covid and then been vaccinated and people who had recovered from covid and not been vaccinated. So Room could well point out there's no benefit to him from getting vaccinated and lots of doctors agree with that. Why isn't a negative covid test sufficient for Room? Martinez won't be allowed back into the US until he has had at least a couple of consecutive negative test results. Presumably he will have to quarantine then too, if MLS is consistent.
If MLS is following CDC guidance when setting its policies, there is no advice that suggests that post-infection individuals should consider themselves the equivalent of vaccinated. It's unfortunate if MLS is not publicizing its specific rules, but other leagues are indeed implementing separate protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated. For example, in the NFL, vaccinated players will not have continuous testing; they will be tested only if they have symptoms or if contract tracing indicates an exposure. If they have an exposure, they can return to team activity immediately upon a negative test.
There's no evidence that vaccination is superior to acquired natural immunity. Room hasn't had covid during the current season and wasn't required to quarantine after returning from Nicaragua or Mexico during CCL. My guess would be that a family member or someone else he's been in close contact with has tested positive, thus the quarantine. If he were unvaccinated and hadn't had covid, that might make sense. But it's just dumb for someone who's already recovered and tests negative.
https://innovation.uci.edu/2021/05/natural-acquisition-versus-vaccine-which-is-more-effective/ "The comparative study, which focused on immunity effectiveness of naturally acquiring COVID-19 versus receiving one of the available messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, like Pfizer and Moderna, has shown that mRNA vaccines are more effective at immunizing against COVID-19 as well as it’s variants versus natural acquisition of the virus." Sounds like maybe the difference between travelling with the team in an environment where the club can enforce protocols, and not. Yes, could be that someone on the Curacao team tested positive. Their coach Guus Hiddink had COVID during this window, but I don't know if he had any contact with the players beforehand.