Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick And Leaders Ignoring Fauci’s Advice Could Prevent Sports From Returning

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he’s done listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci. That maddeningly recalcitrant attitude will likely prevent us from returning to some semblance of normalcy, and sports from restarting.

On Tuesday, Fauci told the Senate health committee he’s “very concerned” about coronavirus cases in the U.S. topping 100,00 per day. If his dire prediction holds true, that means the U.S. would be identifying more cases every day than China has recorded since the first case was diagnosed in Wuhan last December.

Currently, the U.S. is diagnosing more than 40,000 cases daily, and 45 states are reporting higher seven-day averages than last week. The U.S. added its second-most cases ever in a single day Tuesday, with six states reaching a new single-day high in cases, including Texas.

“I can’t make an accurate prediction, but it is going to be very disturbing,” Fauci said. “We’ve really got to do something about that, and we need to do it quickly. Clearly, we are not in total control right now.”

Fauci pointed out half of all new cases are being recorded in four states, and three of them — Florida, Texas and Arizona — are governed by Republicans who rushed to reopen. Over the last week, each state has curtailed some of its reopening plans: South Florida closed its beaches; Texas closed its bars; Arizona ordered bars, gyms, water parks and movie theaters to shutter. But still, none of them have universal face mask mandates, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’s not going back to stricter containment measures.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s presided over the country’s other catastrophic coronavirus surge, has ordered counties to roll back reopening steps and is announcing new restrictions Wednesday.

While there are still many unknowns with the coronavirus, health experts agree face masks help prevent the spread of the virus. Perhaps no piece of real-world data illustrates this point better than the low infection rate in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated places in the world. Despite a population of nearly 7.5 million people living over 420 square miles, Hong Kong has recorded just over 1,000 coronavirus infections to date. One survey shows face masks are ubiquitous across the city, with 98.8% of respondents saying they wear one.

Even in the U.S., we have proof about the effectiveness of masking. The nationwide protests over racial injustice have not sparked surges of cases, as most protesters wore masks. In Massachusetts, just 1.3% of tests conducted on protesters came back positive.

And yet, Texas Gov. Greg Abott is not mandating face masks. Instead, he’s relying on local municipalities to impose their own rules. Texas is one of more than 30 states that didn’t follow CDC reopening guidelines, which called for states to stay closed until they had reached a 14-day decline in cases, among other measures.

“What we’ve seen in several states are different iterations of that, perhaps maybe in some, going too quickly and skipping over some of the checkpoints,” Fauci said.

Sen. Rand Paul chided Fauci, saying we “shouldn’t presume that a group of experts somehow knows what’s best.” In an interview Tuesday on Fox News, Patrick responded to Fauci with apparent disdain. “I don’t need his advice anymore,” he told Laura Ingraham. “We will listen to a lot of science. We will listen to a lot of doctors. And Gov. Abbott, myself and other state leaders will make the decision. No thank you, Dr. Fauci.”

Multiple football teams in Texas have already experienced coronavirus outbreaks — and players aren’t even together yet. Several Cowboys and Texans players reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 last month, along with 13 players from the University of Texas. Several members of the Texas Rangers organization tested positive as well, prompting team employees to tell management they are “terrified for their safety.”

Sports do not exist in a bubble, despite the NBA’s best efforts to create one at the Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Fla. NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that reality Tuesday during an appearance on TIME 100 Talks, admitting the league could halt its plans if cases surge.

“Never full steam ahead no matter what,” he said, via ESPN. “”One thing we are learning about this virus is much [is] unpredictable, and we and our players together with their union look at the data on a daily basis. If there were something to change that was outside of the scope of what we are playing for, certainly we would revisit our plans.”

There are inevitably going to be clusters of positive tests. Already, 16 NBA players have tested positive for the coronavirus. The Denver Nuggets also shut down their facility after two members of their traveling party tested positive.

MLB, which will officially begin workouts Friday, is testing its players this week. On Monday, four noteworthy players — Ryan Zimmerman, Joe Ross, Mike Leake and Ian Desmond — all opted out of the 2020 season. If positive case numbers explode, it’s possible more players will follow suit before the season even begins.

With schools across the country still not committing to reopening this fall, it seems ridiculous to imagine NBA Finals games being contested and pennant races unfolding in baseball. Football is supposed to be going, too, and that’s maybe the team sport that’s least conducive to social distancing.

Though most athletes are in the low-risk category, young people are accounting for a growing percentage of coronavirus cases. In Florida, the median age of residents testing positive for the coronavirus is now 35.

What happens if some infected players wind up getting hospitalized, or placed on ventilators? A computer science professor for the University of Illinois tells CBS Sports he projects 30-50% of all Division 1 college football players to test positive for the coronavirus this season, including 3-7 deaths.

One assumes death would be the final nail in the coffin for sports coming back this calendar year.

We might be powerless to ultimately stop the virus, but for sports to have any chance of coming back — and staying back — we need to contain it. Lt. Gov. Patrick’s attitude, and the willful disobedience of others, are greatly impeding our efforts.