Maryland Athletics Releases COVID-19 Test Results


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The 105 student-athletes who have returned to campus have been tested for COVID-19, and none tested positive for the virus, the University of Maryland announced Friday.

Through a press release:

Maryland Athletics, as part of a phased and phased approach to returning student athletes to campus, is working with the University Health Center to conduct the COVID-19 tests. Throughout this phase, we expect there to be some positive test results and we have planned accordingly, through the implementation of the state and county public and university health guidelines for education, contract monitoring and self-isolation.

During our initial on-campus evaluation of 105 student athletes, no student athlete tested positive for COVID-19.

Those negative results, previously reported by InsideMDSports, are a great relief to Maryland, especially in light of the increasing number of athletes testing positive at other schools; At Clemson, for example, 23 soccer players tested positive. Texas was 13 and LSU was 30, either positive or placed in isolation due to contact with an infected teammate. The list goes on, combining with rising infection numbers in the general population of numerous states to raise concerns that the college football season may close before it begins.

Months ago, the question seemed to be whether the season would be complete. Now, is if it will start.

“What we are planning is to start on time. But there are many parts, this is a smooth situation, “Kevin Warren, the first-year Big Ten commission on HBO, said last week. Real sports. “We need to come together to make sure we understand that everything we do, everything we say and all our decisions matter.”

Maryland fall athletes were allowed to voluntarily return to campus on June 8 and begin individual and volunteer trainings on June 15 before gradually moving toward typical group and team activities.

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Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Iowa reported that 12 student-athletes tested positive. And nationwide, a series of positive tests led Houston, Kansas State, and Boise State to close their sports activities for now. At least 40 university programs have announced positive test results. Three weeks ago, the Big Ten launched a task force aimed at mitigating the virus, led by Dr. Christopher Kratochvil, associate vice chancellor for clinical research and professor of psychiatry and pediatrics in Nebraska. The group will aggregate data from universities and the public to determine best practices for the conference athletics programs.

Some schools, including Big Ten member Nebraska, have chosen not to disclose their test data. Maryland will be open with its results, without identifying individual athletes.

“As we move through this initial phase of our return to campus, to protect the privacy of those student-athletes who may test positive, Maryland Athletics will publicly release the aggregate number of positive tests at regular intervals,” the statement said. .

“The way many of us approach this is as if a slice of Swiss cheese has a lot of holes, but the more slices are placed on top of each other, the more apt they are to cover the holes,” Kratochvil told Madison. com. “You could do things like clean the ball frequently, you could do things like frequently use hand sanitizer during the game. Each of those types of variables that impacts, mitigates the risk. “