Cubs feel confident virus didn't spread through clubhouse
As manager David Ross reached the halfway point of his 10-day COVID quarantine, interim boss Andy Green said the Cubs are confident there was no spread throughout the clubhouse.
"The risk of transfer from Rossy to us is now pretty much gone," Green said before Wednesday's game. "We've passed that window, we've all tested negative. That doesn't mean, like the rest of us in the world, we're all at risk of testing positive for COVID at some point in time just by living our everyday life.
"But the risk of anyone having gotten it from Rossy has now passed us, for the most part. These extra precautions we put in place, we're going to back off those and that's on the advice of our doctors and medical experts and we're just following their lead through this."
Green pointed out that he and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy are the two people who typically have the most contact with Ross at the ballpark. Hottovy and Green both caught COVID-19 early, before a vaccine was available, and are now fully vaccinated. Hottovy's symptoms were pretty intense during the summer of 2020, before the shortened season began.
"It can impact any clubhouse at any time," Green said. "We went through last year and I thought Rossy did a tremendous job and I think Tommy having had such a difficult time with COVID last year, we had extra hyper vigilance to it the entire year."
Green said he speaks to Ross multiple times throughout the day. After games, they begin planning for the next day, then touch base again in the morning. Ross is expected to be out through this weekend, when the Cubs host the San Francisco Giants and Kris Bryant.
"He's got cabin fever for sure, but I think in the grand scheme of things, when you test positive for COVID and you're five days through the process and haven't had a single symptom, I think he's just as happy as he possibly could be given the set of circumstances," Green said. "So he's doing well and we're all eager to have him back with us.
"My guess is him and (team president) Jed (Hoyer) are texting back and forth, but I really don't know that. If I was sitting there by myself, I'd be searching for somebody to text since he can't reach out to any of his coaches. I'd be trying to find somebody I could talk to. I know he watches every game and he's watching baseball most every night. So he's locked in, but there's no way for us to communicate throughout the game."
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