A referee of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup being held in Clark who was earlier reported to be a “suspect case” may be a case of false positive after the conduct of antigen testing Wednesday afternoon yielded negative on the presence of COVID-19 virus.
The referee will remain on strict 14-day quarantine at the Athletes’ Village in New Clark City, and will be subjected to another RT-PCR test to confirm the negative antigen result. All of the eight persons listed as the referees’ close contacts were also established and isolated within 12 hours. They will undergo another round of RT-PCR tests on Saturday, October 24.
As part of the strict health protocols being enforced in the bubble, the referee was immediately extracted from his designated room immediately after being found positive on RT-PCR test.
The referee has undergone three RT-PCR tests before and upon his entry to the bubble. All of these have yielded negative results. He remains to be asymptomatic.
Part of the heightened protocols that were ordered to be implemented is the restriction of movements of PBA officials, players, media and all other persons now inside the bubble. Unnecessary gatherings outside of team practices are also prohibited. As part of restriction, all activities (swimming, gym, jogging etc.) were temporarily suspended for the decontamination of the bubble facilities. Suspension of activities will be lifted Thursday.
Movement of persons in the Bubble are being monitored by StaySafe.Ph, the official contact tracing app for the PBA Bubble.
We would like to assure the public that the integrity of the bubble has not been compromised. Protocols have not been breached.
As announced earlier, all games are allowed to continue as scheduled but with stricter measures at the Quest Hotel and Angeles University Foundation Arena. The continued cooperation of all participants is key in ensuring that the resumption of PBA’s 45th Season is safe and COVID-free.
We thank the fans and everyone concerned for their continued support for the PBA family.