The Latest: Panthers take enhanced precautions against virus

By The Associated Press 15 October 2020, 12:00AM

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The Carolina Panthers are taking enhanced precautions against the coronavirus following their exposure to Falcons defensive tackle Marlon Davidson during Sunday’s win at Atlanta. The Falcons placed Davidson on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Tuesday.

Carolina has entered the NFL's “intensive protocol.” The team is still scheduled to practice Wednesday afternoon in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Bears.

Under the new protocols established this week, all coaches and staff must wear masks at practice and all players must wear a face shield or mask. Players can remove their helmets for breaks but must be more than 6 feet away from one another.

Team meetings will be held either outdoors or virtually. Coaches may not have any in-person meetings in a room smaller than the full-team room and only 10 players are allowed in the weight room at a time. Players can only be in the locker room for 15 minutes or less, and they must wear masks at all times.

Also, players must get their COVID-19 PCR test results from the previous day before being permitted in the facility.

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A women’s world middleweight title fight in England has been called off after a trainer tested positive for the coronavirus.

The trainer is Peter Fury. He is the uncle of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

Peter Fury is also the trainer of Savannah Marshall. The 29-year-old Marshall was scheduled to fight Hannah Rankin on Saturday in Peterborough for the vacant WBO world middleweight title.

Matchroom boxing promotions says “the fight will be rescheduled in due course and our best wishes are with Peter.”

It was the co-main event. Matchroom says all other fighters and their teams tested negative and that the other bouts will be held as scheduled.

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Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The club says the rest of the squad will go back into isolation.

Juventus says “this procedure will allow all persons negative to the controls to carry out regular training and match activities but will not allow contact with people outside of the group.”

The Juventus players and staff were isolating at the club’s hotel until last week after two staff members tested positive for COVID-19.

The 22-year-old McKennie joined Juventus at the end of August. He is the first American to play for the Italian team.

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The Canadian round of figure skating’s Grand Prix has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Skate Canada was scheduled for Oct. 30-31 in Ottawa but the International Skating Union says the competition is “no longer viable.”

The ISU last month postponed the Grand Prix Finals in Beijing from its December dates and has yet to set a new date for a competition which is usually a highlight of the skating calendar. The finals were to be a test event for the 2022 Olympics.

The ISU has also mandated that Grand Prix events be restricted to skaters training in or near the host country to cut down on international travel and quarantine requirements.

The five-round Grand Prix season is due to begin with Skate America in Las Vegas from Oct. 23-25 without spectators.

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Top-seeded Fabio Fognini has withdrawn from the Sardinia Open after testing positive for coronavirus.

Fognini was scheduled to play Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round of the clay court tournament. The Italian had been given a bye but played a doubles match on Tuesday with Lorenzo Musetti.

The Italian tennis federation says all the people Fognini came into direct contact with have been placed in isolation and have undergone new tests.

Lucky loser Danilo Petrović will replace Fognini.

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More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

By The Associated Press 15 October 2020, 12:00AM

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