Even if the Internet portal almost completely ignored the fact that the Omikron variant of the coronavirus is now also in the basketball league in its broadcasts on Saturday, of course something happened again over the weekend. s.Oliver Wrzburg had reported 13 positive cases, Alba Berlin eleven. Around the controversial matches of Wrzburg against Bayreuth on January 2nd and the games of Bayreuth (against Gttingen) and Hamburg (against Bamberg) on Wednesday, a nationwide discussion about the attitude of the league had developed to insist on the implementation of these encounters, because in no case had there been up-to-date positive PCR tests.
On Friday the league and the 18 clubs met in a video conference for about three and a half hours, and of course the Wrzburg case was also a topic of conversation. According to information from this editorial team, the bottom line is that there is practically no change, the league and the clubs are sticking to their rules that were decided six months or nine months ago and are not reacting to the Omikron variant. The only change: a team that was in quarantine no longer has to be able to play after just two days, but after three. The Wrzburg health department had sent 20 people to the baskets in 14-day quarantine.
The shortened quarantine regulations decided by the federal and state governments on Friday will probably not have any influence on the baskets, as the rules will only apply from January 15. The Wrzburger still want to contact the health department on Monday. According to the current status, the last of the Baskets will be allowed to leave the quarantine on January 17th. The game scheduled for Saturday in Chemnitz will have to reschedule the league (like the game planned for last Saturday in Bamberg). Baskets managing director Steffen Liebler wants to apply. The game in Bamberg has now been rescheduled by the league for January 26th (7pm). Three days earlier, on Sunday, January 23rd (3 p.m.), the trend-setting game in Frankfurt, which is extremely important in the fight to stay in the league, is on the agenda.
In the meantime, the league has also spoken through its hygiene officer Florian Kainzinger and the broadcasting internet station is up and running with a 40-minute special edition of his regular podcast, in which the Berliner was the only guest, Rifle at Fu. Once again, the attitude of the league became very clear: It is the responsibility of the clubs to decide which laboratories are used, explained Kainzinger. Translated this means: The league continues to ride on its statutes.
A discussion had developed around the (all negative) PCR tests carried out on the baskets on January 2nd because they themselves had expressed doubts about the correctness of the smear and the results. In the podcast, Kainzinger praised the Wrzburger for their correct reaction after the first positive quick test on New Year’s Eve, but also referred to the league’s emergency plan. According to this, there are two laboratories that are available for such short-term emergencies: one in Hanover, which is responsible for the Wrzburger, and one in Berlin.
The clubs are responsible for bringing the samples there. For the baskets, after returning from Berlin on New Year’s Eve and a positive rapid test on New Year’s Eve, it was a challenge to find a station that could do a PCR test at that time. The transport to Hanover on January 2nd and the timely evaluation up to the jumping ball at 3 p.m. seems simply unrealistic in this case.
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