New England Revolution Season Suspended As MLS Follows NBA Lead

FOXBOROUGH, MA — The New England Revolution season will be on hold indefinitely with Major League Soccer suspending their season due to the new coronavirus. Multiple sources reported Thursday that the league was following the NBA in taking drastic steps, after the NBA abruptly halted its season Wednesday night. The MLS season just began, with opening day Feb. 29.

The Revolution were scheduled to play the Portland Tembers at home in Foxborough, Sunday, March 15.

MLS is suspending its season immediately until further notice due to coronavirus, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Sports Illustrated.
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) March 12, 2020

The NBA announced Wednesday night that it was suspending its season, shortly before a game between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Jazz All-Star Center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus, making him the first professional sports player in America to have a public positive test.

In addition, the United States Soccer Federation is canceling upcoming national team matches, Yahoo Sports reported Thursday.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

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