League uses social media reach for informative campaign on coronavirus

[March 23, 2020]  (Reuters) - The NBA may have been suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak but that has not stopped the league from using its massive online reach to good effect by educating its followers, sharing important information and guidelines related to the pandemic.

The NBA suspended its season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the virus and since then more players have tested positive, including two-time champion Kevin Durant, three of his Brooklyn Nets team mates and two Los Angeles Lakers players.

The campaign, called 'NBA Together', will share the latest health and safety guidelines while using its digital platforms to help people cope with the pandemic.

"Over the past week, 18 NBA and WNBA players created public service announcement videos to share important health and wellness information about ways to reduce the spread of the coronavirus," the NBA said in a statement.

"Those videos have generated more than 37 million views across the league's social media accounts."

One feature is a web page https://cares.nba.com/coronavirus with all the necessary information required to tackle the pandemic, with useful links to updates from the World Health Organization and what fans can do to protect themselves.

The league said players from the NBA and WNBA have already committed to pay more than $30 million to support both healthcare organizations fighting the pandemic and people impacted by the virus. They aim to raise $50 million.

An NBA logo is seen on the facade of its flagship store at the Wangfujing shopping street in Beijing, China October 8, 2019. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

Basketball fans at home will also get to watch classic games streamed on the NBA's social channels every day while one player will also sit down for a live interview with fans every weekday on Instagram.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 337,000 people and over 14,600 have died. The United States has more than 33,600 cases with 421 deaths.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

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