The first two NBA players to test positive for the new coronavirus have been cleared of it.
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and guard Donovan Mitchell both confirmed they were positive for the coronavirus on March 11 via posts on social media. Those two, as well as the rest of the Jazz’s roster and personnel, were cleared by the Utah Department of Health on Friday, the team said in a statement.
“The UDOH has determined that all Jazz players and staff, including two who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, no longer pose a risk of infection to others,” wrote Aaron Falk on UtahJazz.com.
Shortly after the news became official, Mitchell posted on Twitter with a praying hands emoji.
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) March 27, 2020
Per the team’s official website, Jazz players and staff will continue to practice distancing while limiting time outside of their home to essential activities, in accordance with recommendations by the NBA and the Centers for Disease Control.
Mitchell was on “Good Morning America” on March 16 and said he was asymptomatic of coronavirus, showing no symptoms or signs of the virus. He had been in quarantine ever since the diagnosis.
Pistons big man Christian Wood — who matched up against Gobert in Utah’s March 7 road win — reportedly tested positive for coronavirus as well. However, Wood is also reportedly showing signs of full recovery.
In a video posted on March 15 via the NBA, Gobert said he was “feeling a little better every single day.” He also expressed remorse in his social media post, writing, “I have gone through so many emotions since learning of my diagnosis…mostly fear, anxiety, and embarrassment. The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered. At the time, I had no idea I was even infected.”
Before leaving a media session at shootaround in Salt Lake City on March 7 in advance of a game against Detroit that night, Gobert touched all the tape recorders that were placed before him on a table, devices that reporters who cover the Jazz were using.
“You know, there’s not much we can do right now,” Gobert said in that session when asked about how teams are dealing with the virus. And a minute or so later, before he ran out a side door, he touched all the recorders.
Per UtahJazz.com, the players have been in close contact — and in good spirits — during the NBA’s season hiatus.
“We have a Jazz group chat that’s always blowing up,” forward Joe Ingles told the site.
