Wolfpack Managing COVID Better Than Most
In a week that has seen ACC schools Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Florida State all experience issues with their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, NC State is reporting good news that suggests its athletic department is doing a better job than most of managing the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to figures posted on social media by senior associate athletic director Fred Demarest, only one Wolfpack athlete has come up positive for the virus in the latest round of 765 tests.
Overall, the university has administered 1,360 tests since athletes began returning to campus for individual workouts on May 29, with only eight total positive COVID cases.
"Our protocols day-in and day-out have done really well -- the testing, the mask wearing, the cleanliness, the spacing, the way we are using our meeting rooms and spacing guys out, the way that we’re doing practices and splitting the team when we can in different groups to keep the numbers small," football coach Dave Doeren said during a virtual news conference earlier this week, prior to the testing results were announced.
"Then it’s educating them on the things outside of this building because obviously here it's very safe for them. They’ve done an outstanding job, the staff and players alike."
While the Wolfpack has yet to experience a major outbreak and have not had any players opt out of the season for precautionary reasons, several of its ACC rivals haven't been so lucky.
Earlier in the week, Pittsburgh suspended practice because an undisclosed number of players showed “symptoms that can be associated with COVID-19.” A practice at Syracuse was also canceled because of player concerns over safety protocols and testing.
Meanwhile at Florida State, players took to social media to express their displeasure with the COVID precautions being taken by their school.
As for State's secret to success, at least so far, Doeren said it's simply a matter of listening to the experts and following the rules they've set.
"The last thing I’m going to do is put any of our staff or our players at risk," he said. "The things that they’ve asked us to do are working. If there is a positive test, the return to play protocol involves the cardiac exam. So there’s a lot of things to get the guys back.
"Even after the 14-day quarantine, they have to go through a 5-10 day return based on what comes back in that physical. There’s a lot of measures here and we feel comfortable with it. But this is new for everyone, so I’m not going to tell you that it can’t change. I mean, things can get better if they give us better information. Things will change with it."
Doeren said that he and the medical staff will keep working an learning in an effort to keep the players safe and ready to play their scheduled opener at Virginia Tech on Sept. 12.
"I’m excited about where things are at this hour," he said, before adding only half jokingly that "we’ll see where things go in the next (hour)."
