Joey Gallo of the Texas Rangers has confirmed to the press that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
The good news: Gallo is asymptomatic and says he feels good. He has to sit out until he tests negative twice in a row, however. He still could be ready for the start of the season.
Less-than-great news is that Gallo’s path to isolation was not exactly straight forward. According to the Rangers he first tested positive on June 29. He then got a negative test on June 30. He then waited 48 hours and his July 2 test came back positive.
Which is fine, in that the first positive triggered Gallo being placed in isolation and he, presumably, did not have contact with anyone. That’s the system working as it’s supposed to. It’s an example, however, of what experts in all of this have said: there are a pretty healthy number of false positives/negatives inherent in the two testing methods used (swab and saliva). If the pattern was different -- negative first, then positive, then positive -- he likely had two days during which he’d ideally have been isolated but wasn’t.
There’s not a great way to prevent that -- and if teams are distancing/sanitizing as they’re supposed to, risk is reduced -- but it is a reminder that there is less exactitude to all of this than some may believe.
