The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently published a story regarding the Braves and the coronavirus with a headline and a sentence that implied that the team was tested for COVID-19. In an effort to be as accurate as possible, a clarification is necessary. It is not known whether Braves players and staff were tested.
The story was posted online on March 13 with the headline: No Braves with coronavirus, team will remain in Florida. The same story ran in the print edition on March 14 with the headline: Braves are free of virus and free to leave camp. Those stories had the following paragraph: No Brave on the major or minor league side, currently has COVID-19, (Braves general manager Alex) Anthopoulos said. He would not get into the details of the testing because of HIPAA laws.
The sentence indicating Anthopoulos would not get into the details of the testing should have read he would not get into the details of any possible testing.
When questioned in a conference call with members of the Atlanta media, including the AJC, whether any Braves had contracted the coronavirus, Anthopoulos said: “I’m not sure, in terms of HIPAA laws and so on, how much I can and can’t say. I can just tell you right now we do not have any cases right now, as I sit here on this call today, on the minor-league or major-league side.”
As part of the AJC’s commitment to complete accuracy and transparency, we felt it was necessary to set the record straight. Thank you for your continued readership.
