Renowned sports orthopedic surgeon Dr. Raul Canlas said the pause the PBA is implementing since Friday should not be a cause for concern but an opportunity for the league to improve the health protocols inside the "bubble" in Clark, Pampanga.
Canlas, a medical consultant of the pro league, said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (MEID), together with the Department of Health, requested for it to discuss the improvement on the guidelines.
“The IATF, DOH requested a recess, para lang ma-review yung health protocols, bubble,” said Canlas when he guested Saturday on The Chasedown over One PH on Cignal TV.
Despite false positive results from a swab test by a PBA referee and a Blackwater player, Canlas said there is no breach on the bubble, which for him is the safest place in the country now.
However, though he said that the swab test remains the “global standard” in identifying a COVID-19 positive individual, he said that there are still some errors – just like what happened with the PBA.
“No test is a hundred percent… 97 percent yung test. We’re testing 350 people. So you have about 9-12 people with inconclusive tests so we test them again, and they come out negative,” said Canlas, a member of the FIBA medical commission since 1998.
“Itong bubble is a work in progress, the only other bubble that is successful is the NBA. If there are some hiccups along the way, it’ll be ironed out. This recess is for streamlining the process, so I don’t see any problem.”
Canlas said he is confident that this PBA bubble will also be successful, since the majority of sports events in the country, including in the college or amateur level, would depend on it as a model.
FIBA, he said, is looking at the PBA too on how it implements health protocols for future bubble tournaments.
“This sports bubble is something new to everyone… it’s something new to the world,” said Canlas. “Hindi natin alam kung ito lang ang bubble. FIBA, I want to tell you, FIBA is actually observing us, learning from us. They’ll be playing in a bubble all over the world.”
“Also, remember the college leagues are also considering a bubble next year.”
“So a lot counts that the PBA bubble be successful, and be smooth running. Because… other activities down the line will depend on it. That’s why we’re very careful (with the PBA),” he added.