Epidemiologist blasts UFC president Dana White for mishandling coronavirus protocol - The Washington Post

The UFC had announced Souza’s positive test Friday, removing the middleweight from his scheduled bout against Uriah Hall for the event, set to take place in Jacksonville, Fla. Two of Souza’s cornermen also tested positive and, like Souza, were found to be asymptomatic.

Two cornermen have also tested +. So that's 3 cases that appear to have been staying in the host hotel for 2 days at least 1 of whom, despite "self-isolating whenever possible", at least went to a staredown.

If this was your system working as designed, your system is bogus.

— Zachary Binney, PhD (@zbinney_NFLinj) May 9, 2020

On Friday, Souza wore face protection and gloves as he stepped onto the scale during the weigh-in. He was tested again, according to published reports, before fighter faceoffs, during which time White touched fists with Souza and came into contact with other fighters.

Souza, based in Orlando, had driven to Jacksonville on Wednesday and informed UFC officials he had been exposed to a family member infected with the coronavirus. The UFC subsequently tested Souza, permitting him to remain on the card.

Souza and his entire team, according to a UFC statement, left the host hotel to self-quarantine off the premises.

Video released early Saturday morning, however, appeared to show Souza failing to maintain social distance at the hotel around other fighters before the weigh-in.

"was isolated on arrival until results came back?"

Doesn't look like it to me, folks, I gotta tell ya.https://t.co/YeyAWTJmSb

— Zachary Binney, PhD (@zbinney_NFLinj) May 9, 2020

“The response to this development is indicative of the effectiveness of the health and safety measures UFC has put in place for this event,” the statement read in part, with the UFC adding no other fighters had tested positive.

But in series of tweets, Binney questioned the UFC on several of its decisions, particularly as they related to social distancing. Binney, for instance, called the UFC “reckless” for allowing Souza to attend the weigh-in despite him having notified officials he had been exposed.

“No, I don’t buy this is the system working as designed and proof [the UFC and Dana White] are being responsible,” Binney tweeted.

No, I don't buy this is the system working as designed and proof @ufc and @danawhite are being responsible. At least two very bad things happened:

-An infected fighter traveled
-An infected fighter *with a family case you knew about* was allowed at a staredown

— Zachary Binney, PhD (@zbinney_NFLinj) May 9, 2020

During Saturday night’s event, The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the participation agreement, reported that fighters could risk losing prize money or bonuses if they “suggest or communicate” UFC 249 is being conducted without proper safety precautions. White denied to Yahoo Sports that any fighters would be subject to punishments if they said anything about UFC that was a true statement.

“If a fighter says something that isn’t true — if he says we didn’t test anyone for this — that would [violate the agreement],” White said, per Yahoo Sports. “But if he said something that was true, his opinion, then that is different.”

UFC 249 is the first of three events this week, with approval from the Florida State Boxing Commission, planned for Jacksonville’s Veterans Memorial Arena. Saturday’s pay-per-view card on ESPN features a headline bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight championship.

Read more:

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read Again Brow https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMigQFodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vc3BvcnRzLzIwMjAvMDUvMDkvZXBpZGVtaW9sb2dpc3QtYmxhc3RzLXVmYy1wcmVzaWRlbnQtZGFuYS13aGl0ZS1taXNoYW5kbGluZy1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1wcm90b2NvbC_SAZABaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2FzaGluZ3RvbnBvc3QuY29tL3Nwb3J0cy8yMDIwLzA1LzA5L2VwaWRlbWlvbG9naXN0LWJsYXN0cy11ZmMtcHJlc2lkZW50LWRhbmEtd2hpdGUtbWlzaGFuZGxpbmctY29yb25hdmlydXMtcHJvdG9jb2wvP291dHB1dFR5cGU9YW1w?oc=5

Bagikan Berita Ini