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Under 1% of Major League Baseball employees test positive for coronavirus

NEW YORK (AP) — Just 0.7% of Major League Baseball employees tested positive for antibodies to COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.

The small number of positive tests, announced Sunday, was positive news for a sport pushing ahead with plans to start its delayed season.

Researchers received 6,237 completed surveys from employees of 26 clubs. That led to 5,754 samples obtained in the U.S. on April 14 and 15 and 5,603 records that were used. The survey kit had a 0.5% false positive rate.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford, one of the study’s leaders, said the prevalence of the antibodies among MLB employees was lower than for the general population during testing in New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco area and Miami.

“I was expecting a little bit of a higher number,” Bhattacharya said during a telephone news conference.

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