The Miami Marlins should follow the 14-day quarantine protocol when they return to South Florida, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez said Tuesday.
His remarks came just before Major League Baseball announced multiple postponements of upcoming games out of an abundance of caution after multiple Miami Marlins tested positive for Covid-19.
“They [Miami Marlins] should follow the medical protocol,” Giménez said at a briefing. “If somebody’s been exposed, just like any other person, they need to be tested and self-quarantine for a while, that’s the normal protocol, that’s what we would ask them to do.”
“I would assume that they would follow the medical protocols and I would assume they also follow the law unless they have some kind of exemption,” he added.
The mayor said he doesn’t see how MLB teams will be able to contain the spread of the virus among their ball clubs if players are allowed to go back into the community after their games.
Giménez thinks the National Basketball Association has “the right formula” by putting teams in an enclosed environment, often referred to as a “bubble,” in which the participants live, practice and play all games.
He also doesn’t expect the county to suffer additional economic hardship if the Marlins’ season were to get postponed.
“There’s no fans, so it’s all TV revenue,” Giménez said. “As far as the county is concerned, it has minimal impact on the county.”
“They still owe us the rent, whether they play or they don’t,” he added.
