San Francisco Giants confirm 5 players have tested COVID-19 positive

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Giants confirm on Friday that five of the team's players have tested positive for COVID-19. 

As of Friday, the outbreak is now affecting first baseman Brandon Belt, reliever Dominic Leone, and outfielder Steven Duggar. This is in addition to Mike Yastrzemski and Zack Littell who were previously placed on the COVID IL. 

This is separate from an unspecified number of staff members who have tested positive, including the ‘Voice of Oracle Park’, Giants' announcer Renel Brooks-Moon. She is out of commission for the weekend, as Giants on Twitter said she is home resting and recovering from COVID. 

Roughly an hour before their home game against the Washington Nationals, the team posted a handful of roster changes. 

The Mercury News reported the outbreak started on Sunday. The Giants are limiting clubhouse access and are encouraging best practices, including masking, regardless of vaccination status. 

The positive cases come as the city of San Francisco is experiencing an uptick in cases.

"We will always have COVID with us. It's something that we have to learn to live with," said UCSF infectious disease expert, Dr. Monica Gandhi. She said we're in a transitional phase and that despite the high number of cases, hospitalization rates and severe cases of infection remain low. The key, Gandhi said, is vaccination and boosters.

"There's so much immunity in the U.S. population, especially here in the Bay Area. You don't close everything for cases. When we see that our hospitalizations are staying low, we know that's because we have high levels of immunity."

Many fans we spoke with at the ballpark were not aware of the Giants' outbreak, but some also said they're not overly concerned. Many also said they've had COVID. 

"I think it's going to be a common thing to be honest," said Sonia Castro of Pacifica. "Everyone is going to get sick somehow. So I don't think it's really something to be too concerned about?"

Masks are not required at Oracle Park and very few people wore them. For concession stand workers and many who work in the service industry, their attitude is different. COVID is still a concern. 

"I'm pretty strict, I wear my mask, I use my gloves and everything," said concession worker Saray Mendoza. "I have to be careful because I go home to my older parents as well and I wouldn't want to give it to them."

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