South Korea's May 1 Baseball Restart Date Proves How Far America Has to Go Before MLB Season Can Begin
By Michael Luciano
The coronavirus pandemic has put all American sports on hold as the country works to keep this crisis contained. South Korea, meanwhile, has earned praise for how effectively "flattening the curve" of the pandemic was able to take place. In fact, they're ready to begin starting their sports league back up again.
After South Korea confirmed fewer than 100 new coronavirus cases each day in April, the KBO baseball league is planning to resume play on May 1.
South Korea, which is preparing to restart baseball, has had fewer than 100 new cases of coronavirus nationally each day in April. https://t.co/P4mMyRnUag The lowest number of new U.S. cases for any day in April is reportedly 24,685 (April 13), w/ a high of 34,243 (April 9).
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 19, 2020
The United States, meanwhile has recorded at least 24,685 new cases every day in April.
All told, if it took a country like South Korea that has been regarding as an shining example of how to deal with a pandemic all the way until now to get sports back up and running, it might be quite a while before North American leagues can resume.
Just a heads-up -- the U.S. population is about 6 1/2 times greater than that of South Korea. The daily rate of coronavirus diagnoses in the U.S. is about 300 times greater.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 19, 2020
The USA's response to this virus has been much less effective than that of South Korea so far. Unless we all stay home and continue to embrace social distancing, our sports are going to continue to remain on hold.