The Minnesota Vikings became the NFL's first team to be tested for the coronavirus on the morning of a Sunday game, and all tests came back negative, sources told ESPN.
The Vikings, who faced the coronavirus-stricken Tennessee Titans last weekend, traveled to Houston on Saturday afternoon, and arrangements were in place for the team to be tested there before Sunday's game against the Texans.
The NFL wanted to make sure that the Vikings continued to test negative for COVID-19, as they have throughout the week. The Vikings also had no positive tests Saturday morning, a source told ESPN.
Two more members of the Titans' organization tested positive for the virus Sunday morning -- one player and one coach, increasing the total to 18 members of the organization to test positive in the past week, multiple sources told ESPN.
The Vikings temporarily shut down their facility this past week, citing an abundance of caution, but returned Thursday under enhanced COVID-19 protocols implemented by the league.
The enhanced protocols include two daily tests; one is the traditional PCR (nasal swab) test and the other is a POC (point of care) test that returns faster results. All Tier 1 and Tier 2 employees needed to test negative on the POC test before entering the facility.
