Power 5 Conferences to have Universal Testing Standards for Fall Sports

SI.com's Ross Dellenger was first to report that the Power 5 conferences are expected to have a universal testing standard for all fall sports.

Universal testing, tracing, and treatment. It's something that professional sports leagues have had a significant advantage over collegiate athletics during a national pandemic. That is until today, at least for the Power 5 conferences that is. 

SI.com's Ross Dellenger was first to report that the Power-5 conferences are going to release universal, minimum COVID-19 testing standards for all fall sports. 

These standards include college football players who test positive for COVID-19 to miss at least 10 days of competition and a full two weeks for those who have had contact with person or player that has tested positive, per Dellenger's report. 

Sports Illustrated obtained a copy of the six-page document that outlines the weekly in-season testing requirement along with the protocols for response to positive tests.

Programs will test football players within 72 hours of games, along with officials being tested weekly. Coaches will not be required to be tested, though they will be required to wear a mask on the sideline if they are not tested. 

Another question facing fall athletics is what it would take to shut downfall sports during the season. This document has laid out a five-step checklist for such an occurrence. 

1. Lack of ability to isolate new cases or quarantine high-contact risk cases on campus. 
2. inability to perform weekly testing 
3. campus-wide or local community test rates that are considered unsafe by local public health officials 
4. inability to perform adequate contact tracing
5. local public health officials state that there is an inability for the hospital infrastructure to accommodate a surge in COVID-related hospitalizations. 

The glaringly obvious issue here is that not all programs are located and created equally. Meaning that some programs may be located in areas that are currently overwhelmed. So despite a universal standard having been created, that does not mean that all schools are under universal circumstances. 

Though, at least it's a start. 

To read Ross Dellenger's full report click HERE.