Penn State Reports Fewer Athlete COVID-19 Cases for Third Consecutive Week
Penn State on Wednesday reported fewer positive COVID-19 cases among athletes for the third consecutive week, its first with daily antigen testing in football.
Penn State Athletics reported three positive cases of COVID-19 among 1,211 tests conducted from Sept. 26-Oct. 2. Three results were pending, the athletic department said in a statement.
It's a good sign for Penn State football, which began daily antigen testing Sept. 30 en route to its Oct. 24 opener at Indiana. Penn State has continued to lower its positive cases significantly since an early September surge prompted several programs to halt workouts.
For the period of Aug. 29-Sept. 11, Penn State's athletic department reported 98 positive cases among athletes. It has reported 19 over the past two weeks of testing.
Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour had said that the rise coincided with Aug. 24 start of in-person classes. The athletic department does not release a breakdown of test restults for specific teams.
Penn State coach James Franklin said last week that the team was doing well regarding its virus-prevention protocols but wants players and staff to remain vigilant despite daily testing.
"I think we’re in a good place," Franklin said. "One of the things that we have to be careful of, the mistake in some other sports, is when you start testing every day, that’s not a cure-all. That doesn’t solve your issues. That’s just another layer of protection. That's just another layer of protocols. The most important thing that we can do is [with] our behavior, our choices.
"... I think some of the other leagues, once they started testing every single day, especially the professional leagues from the feedback we've gotten, is it kind of gave everybody a false sense of security, and they felt like they could go back to living the way they were living. And you're not going to. This is the new normal, and we all have to embrace that."
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