A second Yankees minor league has tested positive for novel coronavirus, the team announced. The Yankees informed their minor-league players on Tuesday of the test results. Per MLB Network's Jon Heyman, Yankees players will continue to be tested and quarantined in keeping with the protocols set by health officials.
This comes two days after another Yankees prospect became the first known MLB-affiliated player to test positive for the virus that was recently declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. The Yankees quarantined minor-league players and staff over the weekend after the first player tested positive. The identities of the players players were not disclosed.
The Yankees released the following statement on Tuesday evening:
We can confirm that a second minor league player from our Player Development complex has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. While under self-quarantine, the player reported fatigue and an elevated body temperature to Yankees medical personnel. The test was administered on Sunday, and the player returned to self-quarantine following the positive results. We can also report that within the past 48 hours his symptoms have dissipated.
We will continue to follow all protocols and recommendations established by local and federal public health experts and Major League Baseball.
Also on Tuesday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone, according to ESPN's Marly Rivera, began driving from the Yankees' spring training complex in Florida to his home in Greenwich, Conn. MLB is keeping spring training sites open, but advised players on Monday to head somewhere they could be for an extended period of time.
While not much is known about how the ongoing outbreak will affect the MLB season, it is known that the season will not be able to start by April 9, which was the initial hope. The earliest the league will now have its Opening Day is mid-May.
Coronaviruses are a large group of viruses that can cause illnesses as minor as a cold, or as serious as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), according to the World Health Organization. The virus can cause symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But while some patients only show mild symptoms and recover, others have developed life-threatening complications, such as pneumonia, CBS News reports.
CBS News has the latest updates about the virus, which has affected various sports globally and in the United States and has caused more than 7,100 fatalities worldwide. Here at CBS Sports we have running updates on how sports leagues are responding to coronavirus.
