Sooners Report Just One New Positive COVID-19 Test
Count it another positive step for the University of Oklahoma en route to resuming athletic competition.
On Monday morning, the Sooners athletic department released results from a round of July 17 testing. Of 100 players and staffers tested across three programs (football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball), only a single women’s basketball player was found to have the COVID-19 virus.
Oklahoma stated that the player in question is quarantining, as was another player who was “deemed a contact” to the player who tested positive.
Sooners athletic director Joe Castiglione has fronted a full-scale operation to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the Oklahoma athletic family, and thus far, it’s proved remarkably successful. After the football program reported over a dozen positive cases upon the first round of testing, there has been a notable dearth of new cases since. It’s provided optimism that the Sooners will play football in the fall — they’re currently scheduled to open the season against Missouri State on Sept. 5, but Castiglione has said that he’s aiming to move the game up a week to Aug. 29.
The Big 12, ACC and SEC are the only Power 5 football conferences that haven’t cancelled nonconference play. With the Sooners scheduled to play an FCS team (Missouri State), an independent (Army) and an SEC program (Tennessee) in nonconference, Castiglione and the OU administration will no doubt make every effort to keep those games on the schedule.
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