Second Utah-Jazz player, Donovan Mitchell tests positive for COVID-19

The NBA suspended games indefinitely when Utah Jazz center, Rudy Gobert, tested positive for the coronavirus. The game against Oklahoma City Thunder was suspended immediately, and rigorous testing was implemented upon the Utah Jazz by the Oklahoma City Health Department. A second player, Donovan Mitchell, has tested positive for the virus.

According to USA Today, Oklahoma Officials prepared 58 test kits for the Utah Jazz organization as a "public health decision" for having direct contact with a person who tested positive to COVID-19. Despite shortages for test kits, the Jazz received a complete run-through from the Oklahoma Health Department while other places are struggling to get tests.

OKDH spokesperson Jamie Dukes claims that it is to prevent a cluster from developing within a close-knit organization.

A referee who worked during a Utah Jazz game earlier in the week also tested positive during initial testing on Wednesday night, before the game between the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans. The game was also suspended before tipoff. Other Wednesday night games pushed through, but the league suspended all remaining games indefinitely.

Public Health officials in Toronto also announced they will perform rigorous testing on the Toronto Raptors, one of the teams who last played against the Jazz. They played against each other on the 10th of March, a day before Utah Jazz player Gobert was found positive.

The Detroit Pistons, who also played a game against the Utah Jazz on the 8th of March imposed self-quarantine and are "in close contact with the organization's health care providers and government public health officials, as well as the NBA, to ensure that all protective measures are taken."

Rishi Desai, an epidemic intelligence service officer for the CDC, applauded the decisions by the Oklahoma City Public Health Department calling the Utah Jazz organization as "super spreaders," the type of people who travel a lot and expose themselves to thousands of people at any given week.

Only 250 test kits remain in Oklahoma, but OKDH officials prevented the Utah Jazz and other NBA teams from continuing to travel around the country and potentially increasing the risk of spreading the infectious disease.