The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:
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Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook is set to practice with the team for the first time since revealing that he tested positive for the coronavirus.
Westbrook did not travel with the Rockets on July 9 when they flew to Florida for the NBA’s restart. The nine-time All-Star revealed on social media that he had tested positive for the virus on July 14 and he did not arrive in Florida until Monday.
Westbrook had to quarantine upon his arrival at Disney but was cleared to join the Rockets for their practice on Wednesday.
He said his only symptom was a stuffy nose and that he’s feeling great now and ready to get to work with the Rockets, who open the season July 31 against Dallas.
Westbrook, who wore a mask as he spoke to the media despite being inside the NBA bubble, urged people not take the coronavirus lightly and to wear a mask.
”I’m not a doctor nor a specialist, but I do know that it’s definitely something to take very seriously,” he said. ”To understand that wearing a mask can be between life or death honestly … there are people dying from this virus each and every day and it’s something that we all need to take very, very seriously.”
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Swiss soccer club Basel says one of its players has tested positive for the coronavirus but its league game against St. Gallen will go ahead.
Basel says the unidentified player has been in isolation on the advice of public health officials. The rest of the squad tested negative and will not go into quarantine.
Basel is the third of the 10 Swiss clubs to have at least one player test positive since the league restarted last month.
Basel will finish its season and then resume in the Europa League on Aug. 6. The club will then play in the Swiss Cup semifinals.
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The International Tennis Federation plans to resume its lower-level World Tennis Tour the week of Aug. 17 and its junior and beach tennis tours two weeks later when the U.S. Open is scheduled to begin.
All ITF tours have been suspended since March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The governing body says it has not decided on return dates for the senior or wheelchair tours but neither will have tournaments take place before Aug. 31.
The ITF also announced its COVID-19 protocols for its tournaments and players.
That includes telling participants they shouldn’t travel to tournaments if they tested positive for the virus within seven days or were exposed to anyone with the virus or its symptoms within 14 days.
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The PGA Tour Series-China season has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The China-based tour’s executive director says attempts to move the qualifying tournaments to other sites in Asia were not practical and restricted access into mainland China made it too difficult to stage tournaments in 2020.
Greg Carlson says ”staging a tour based in China with players from five different continents is just not feasible at this time.”
The tour is owned by the PGA Tour and operates in partnership with the Chinese Golf Association. It started in 2014 and is open to all nationalities and attracts players mainly from Asia and the Pacific Rim.
Players who earned membership following the 2019 season will maintain their PGA Tour Series-China status in 2021.
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More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
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