In their quest to return to play amid a global pandemic, professional sports leagues have built their safety protocols upon a common foundation: Testing.
Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer are testing all of their players and key staff members for COVID-19 multiple times per week. The NBA's bubble near Orlando, Florida features daily tests. The NFL has yet to finalize its protocol for the fall — but if it goes ahead with the 2020 season, frequent testing will surely be a priority.
One month ago, sports' use of those COVID-19 tests — and the lab capacity needed to process them — was thought to be incidental.