Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) announced that player and coaches will go through swab-saliva tests for coronavirus once a month after the season opens on Friday 19 June.
The announcement came after representatives of all 12 teams met online with NPB Commissioner Atsushi Saito. NPB also announced that, following a recommendation by a panel of infectious disease experts, the league will conduct polymerase chain reaction tests before the season for players, coaches and umpires.
The panel of experts also presented a proposal about the procedure to allow players who test positive to go back to their teams. Players not showing symptoms will have to test negative twice during a period of observation before being cleared.
Last week superstar shortstop Hayato Sakamoto and catcher Takumi Oshiro of the Yomiuri Giants tested positive. The players showed no symptoms and have already been cleared to join the club after testing negative twice.
