SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 11, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) – Gov. Gary Herbert and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox are responding to the news that a Utah Jazz player has been diagnosed with COVID-19, prompting the NBA to not only cancel tonight’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but to postpone play for the remainder of the season.
Herbert and Cox were informed that Rudy Gobert is the player who has tested positive and that the entire team is now being screened as a precautionary measure.
The governor and lieutenant governor have released the following statement:
We wish this player a full and speedy recovery, and appreciate the work of health officials in Oklahoma to test a member of the Utah Jazz for COVID-19, as well as their prudent decision to test the entire team at this time.
The preliminary positive result came back just before tip-off of the Utah Jazz-Oklahoma City game, and we have been in touch since that time. The preliminary result will now be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for confirmation.
We are working closely with the CDC and the NBA to gather more information on this case. We, along with the Utah Department of Health, are actively working to identify how long the patient has been experiencing symptoms, and are working to identify individuals who have had close enough contact with the player as to have been potentially exposed.
For now, we urge individuals who think they may have been exposed to contact their healthcare provider via phone call or telehealth service, particularly if they are experiencing symptoms.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
