MLB Reports 13 Positive COVID Results Among Players, Staff During Intake Testing

MLB and the MLBPA announced Friday that nine players and four staff members tested positive for COVID-19 during the mandatory intake screening process with 2021 spring training underway.

A total of 4,336 samples were collected and tested, meaning 0.3 percent of tests returned positive. Nineteen of the league's 30 franchises did not have anyone test positive.

The announcement noted what the intake process entails:

"All Major League active roster players, non-roster invitees, and Tier 1 and 2 Club staff members are required to complete the Intake Screening process, which includes a five-day at-home quarantine, a contactless temperature check, a diagnostic PCR saliva test, an antibody test, and a self-quarantine until the results of the PCR are reported."

People who clear intake testing are then subject to a monitoring testing process. A total of 2,298 samples from people in that process have been taken, and none have revealed any further positive COVID-19 results, per an independent laboratory in Utah.

MLB is trying to hold a full 162-game season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The league played an abbreviated 60-game schedule last year with a four-round postseason despite numerous team outbreaks that forced mass schedule changes.

The league moved to a de facto bubble starting with the division series of the playoffs as games took place at neutral sites. No more positive tests emerged until the sixth and final game of the World Series when Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner returned a positive result. He was pulled in the eighth inning.

This year's campaign will start April 1 with all 30 teams in action. All franchises must adhere to the league's health and safety protocols, which include frequent PCR testing, mandatory face coverings in the dugouts and in team facilities, and a mandatory 10-day minimum isolation upon a positive test result.