The USA’s top infectious disease expert says there’s a way that professional sports can return and it can be done so in a safe way.

Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke to Snapchat’s Peter Hamby about an array of topics surrounding COVID-19 and how sports could return this summer.

Fauci suggested that drastic measures would need to be undertaken for it to happen with fans at home and players sequestered in hotels.

“There’s a way of doing that. Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them (the players) in big hotels, you know, wherever you want to play, and keep them very well surveilled. Have them tested every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family, and just let them play the season out. “I mean, people say that you can’t play without spectators… well… I think you’d probably get enough buy-in from people who are dying to see a baseball game, particularly me, I’m living in Washington and we have the world champion Washington Nationals and I want to see them play again.”

Having nobody in attendance for any pro sports games would be far from ideal, especially for a league driven on ticket sales like the NHL, but this might just be the best case scenario for sports to be able to pick back up.

Players and staff are continuing their league-mandated isolations, and sports returning could be big for so many who are fans of them. It might be enough of an escape for many people to get some sense of normalcy back into their lives.

On Twitter: @zjlaing

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