User:JeffreyArthurVA/Sandbox10

COVID-19 protocol
As the COVID-19 pandemic escalated through 2020, the NFLPA's board of player representatives voted unanimously to recommend that the NFL play no preseason games ahead of the 2020 NFL season. In July 2020, the NFL agreed to cancel the 2020 preseason. In September 2020 the NFLPA and the NFL agreed to a set of COVID-19 protocols for the 2020 season, including screening and testing requirements for players and staff, gameday and travel requirements, halting of international games, systems for reporting and quarantining following positive tests, and other changes. These new protocols resulted in the playing of some games with either a reduced in-stadium crowd or no crowd at all, and the postponement and rescheduling of multiple games due to positive COVID-19 tests among players and staff. However, all 256 regular-season games were able to be played with no cancellations.

The infection control system formed by the NFLPA and NFL produced an average league positivity rate of 0.076% across the 2020 season. This figure was low compared to the U.S. average positivity rate of 6.8% during the samed time period. Findings from the season were put into a paper published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that documented the NFLPA and NFL medical experts' methods for mitigating risk in potential COVID-19 exposure situations.

In August 2021 the NFLPA and NFL agreed to updated protocols for the 2021 NFL season, including weekly COVID-19 testing for all fully-vaccinated players and staff -- an increase from the prior biweekly testing requirement. Players were given the choice of obtaining a second weekly test, and players living with people at high risk were able to elect to be tested daily. Mask rules were also updated for the 2021 season, requiring staff to wear masks when interacting with players indoors. Additionally, unvaccinated players were no longer required to wear masks outdoors.