Vikings suspend travel for coaches, scouts
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The Minnesota Vikings on Thursday suspended travel for its coaches and scouts amid growing COVID-19 concerns.
The team announced it’s closely monitoring developments of the novel coronavirus and maintaining contact with the NFL, local teams and health professionals. Several other NFL teams announced similar moves Thursday.
"These are uncertain times, and our priority is to protect the health and safety of our players, coaches, staff and fans and to do our part to minimize the spread of this virus," the Vikings statement read, in part.
Statement from the #Vikings on Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/yHp8rApiKM
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) March 12, 2020
It comes as teams and the league are preparing for the beginning of the new league year and several off-season phases, including free agency and the NFL Draft, which is scheduled to take place from April 23 through April 25.
Several other sports organizations and leagues, including the NBA, MLS, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR, XFL and MLB have announced changes to their schedules in the past 24 hours to varying degrees due to COVID-19 concerns.
You can track more disruptions due to COVID-19 here.