Talking to the NBA’s COVID-19 test provider

Dr. Jon Cohen is the executive chairman of BioReference Laboratories

BY HENRY ABBOTT

Florida is in rough shape—one local health official said the level of coronavirus is like Wuhan at its peak. So there is pressure on the NBA to get its Orlando bubble just right. From the beginning, the set up has raised some safety concerns from epidemiologists and scientists. The rate of infection in the local area is high and Disney workers come and go from the bubble, many without being tested. 

But the one thing nobody has questioned is that the NBA is doing testing right. According to the commissioner, they are testing every player every day. 

New Jersey-based BioReference Laboratories is doing that work. A press release from BioReference says they are providing “testing oversight for the National Basketball Association’s players and referees, as well as team and league staff participating in the NBA’s season restart in Orlando. Under the agreement with the NBA, BioReference will provide COVID-19 testing, which includes PCR diagnostics, rapid diagnostics and antibod…