Coronavirus Has Hit Sports

There’s so many things to think about coronavirus. But the fact that it has finally hit mainstream international sports means that it won’t be going away. Initially one of the reactions was to play without fans in the sports arenas. But then athletes are now getting infected. Initially, just footballers (unsurprisingly) in Italy got infected. But today, it has finally hit NBA basketball right into the core, with a player infected, soon after making not so smart jokes (in retrospect) about the virus. Expect economies to crash.

Anyways, here’s a map showing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. What’s interesting is the fact that despite the ease of international travel, the spread of the virus is not fully homogenous. Countries other than China with the highest number of infections (in descending order) are Italy, Iran, and South Korea. What fascinates me is: why? Only South Korea is truly next door. Does it have something to do with the climate? Genetic predisposition? To me the international public health control measures feel late (it’s always a balance); if it’s as easily infectious as it seems to be, I expected much more countries to have been affected already. And Malaysia, with its stream of mainland Chinese tourists, is lucky to not have as many cases. And no deaths. Let’s not jinx this.

What’s also (darkly) humorous is the fact that the Diamond Princess cruise ship is considered as a “country”.

Exercise Therapy versus Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy for Degenerative Meniscal Tear in Middle Aged Patients

So the outcomes become equal at 24 years follow up (and interestingly at 3 months), but outcomes are better in between that for the surgical group (that brief period only). The exercise group also reported lesser incidences of swelling, mechanical problems, and restricted range of motion. There are other studies suggesting that for degenerative meniscal injuries, rehab should be considered first.

I wonder if this and more studies will change the practice of managing knee meniscus injuries in athletes. Just got word that Jimmy Butler injured his meniscus (after controversially not playing in the NBA All-Star Game to get needed rest playing the most minutes per game). Then there's the sad story of Brandon Roy, whose career you could argue was destroyed by surgeons; he needed a proper strength coach to fix his problems leading up to the injury risk. I'm biased towards rehab for most sports injuries. But I'm not the expert in the field, just an enthusiast. But I believe for the most part, we should not touch them with probes and debriders; this ain't no ACL.