Power 5 conferences to add uniformity measures for COVID-19 protocols

In the hopes of having a season, the Power 5 conferences have drafted a medical document to add uniformity to virus testing protocols and response procedures

If the college football season is to be canceled this fall, it won't be because of the efforts made by the Power 5 conferences.

In the hopes of having a season, the five conferences have gotten together and drafted a medical document to add uniformity to virus testing protocols and response procedures. Among the rules and regulations in the document are what happens if a player tests positive and/or a player has come in contact with someone who is positive.

For those players who do come back with positive tests for the novel coronavirus this fall, they will be required to miss the next 10 days of athletic competition. That number moves to 14 days for any college football player who has come into contact with ANY person that has tested positive.

One thing to know is that the document has yet to be finalized, but is expected to be released to public by the five conferences and the NCAA relatively soon. Apart from establishing the protocols and safety measures,

The document is not finalized, but is expected to be released soon by the Power 5 and the NCAA. They are working with one another to create universal, minimum testing standards. 

According to the article by Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger...

The six-page document outlines weekly in-season testing requirements, response protocols for positive tests, contact-tracing plans and considerations for game cancellations. “This document is meant to guide institutions in the minimum necessary requirements needed to participate in athletics in the coming year,” the document reads.

College teams will be required to test football players within 72 hours of games using the standard PCR test. Game officials in football and basketball should also be tested weekly, because of their close contact with athletes, the document says. The document, however, does not require tests for coaches, though staff members must wear a mask on the sideline if they are not tested in the same way athletes are. As for other high-risk sports, athletes should be tested within 72 hours of the first game of a week’s set of games. 

For those who come into contact with somebody who has tested positive, they must self-quarantine for 14 days REGARDLESS of whether or not they test negative. They will be required to complete the 14-day period before resuming action.

“Institutions may consider testing contacts during quarantine if the local testing supply is adequate, however this does not shorten or remove the need for a 14 day quarantine period,” the document says.

A “high risk” contact is defined as anybody who comes into contact with an infected person for a minimum of 15 minutes WHILE one OR both parties are NOT wearing a mask, which includes taking part in face-to-face/contact drills. The language in the document is very specific — so in other words, facemasks will be the athletes' best friends.

The document details several conditions that would result in a school discontinuing competition and/or complete seasons... 

1) lack of ability to isolate new positive 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.

Nos. 3 and 5 are a great concern for athletic administrators. As detailed in a story last week in SI, administrators’ top concern is that rising cases nationwide will overwhelm local public health departments. That includes inundated hospitals and testing labs, impacting colleges’ own virus-related supplies and potentially slowing test results, as detailed in this SI story published Tuesday.

While it may appear that the season taking place is a long shot, it won't be from lack of effort of trying to provide safety protocols and measures.

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