Amid mounting COVID-19 cases in the NBA, Commissioner Adam Silver says the league has no plans to halt the season.

“There are no plans at this time to stop the season,” said in an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “Of course, we have looked at all the options, but frankly, we are having trouble thinking about what the logic behind a hiatus would be at the moment.

“As we look through these cases that are literally sweeping across the country, let alone the rest of the world, I think we are finding ourselves where we knew we were going to go over the last few months, and that is this virus. It will not be. eradicated, and we’re going to have to learn to live with that. I think that’s what we’re living in the league right now. “

Silver said the Omicron variant is “more than dominant” in the league at the moment, with 103 players entering COVID-19 health and safety protocols this month, and more than 65 in the past week.

MORE: Updated team-by-team player list in health and safety protocols

As of Tuesday, the league has had to postpone seven games in the last week, and the league’s biggest Christmas Day games are still scheduled to go ahead as planned on Sunday, despite several players from the 10 teams currently scheduled for Christmas on health and safety protocols. . The Boston Celtics and New York Knicks each have six, while the Brooklyn Nets have 10, however Silver says the league has contingency plans.

“It seems to us that the correct and responsible thing, taking into account all the factors, is to continue playing,” Silver said.

Silver added that 65 percent of NBA players have received a COVID-19 booster shot and 97 percent of players are vaccinated and, although there are currently no plans to reduce fan capacity in the arenas, Silver said the league will continue to abide by local mandates. This week, the Toronto Raptors reduced their capacity by 50 percent, in accordance with new mandates from the province of Ontario.

He also said the league will continue to review its security protocols.

“We are actively looking to shorten the number of days that a vaccinated but asymptomatic player has to be out,” added Silver. “… Everything we are doing is in coordination with the players’ association.”

MORE: Explanation of NBA COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols

The NBA and the NBPA recently revised the rules on hiring replacement players, allowing teams to hire a replacement player for each player on the roster who tests positive for COVID-19.

On top of that, two-way players will no longer have a cap on the total number of games they can play in the NBA during the regular season, previously limited to 50 games.