The SEC is already taking extreme measures to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 among its student-athletes; three tests a week are now the norm.

Now, four days before the league’s 14 teams kick off the 2020 campaign, even more protective measures are being put into place.

Tuesday, the SEC announced it is teaming with global technology leader KINEXON to enhance the conference’s contract tracing efforts throughout the course of the upcoming season.

The company will provide lightweight, wearable devices, called SafeTags, which will be used conference-wide for all football student-athletes to use at team facilities, during practices and games. Approximately the size of a watch face, the device is worn as a wristband or on a lanyard or can be built into the equipment for use on-field in practices and games.

“Through this new relationship with KINEXON, the SEC is committed to using innovative technology to provide solutions for use by our member institutions as we all work to support a healthy environment for student-athletes,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “KINEXON provides the SEC with a modern and effective solution to meet the unique contact tracing challenges associated with football.”

The SafeZone technology is the same currently being used by the NFL.

According to the company, SafeZone uses ultra-wideband technology to accurately calculate the proximity between individuals by distance and length of time in order to perform quick and accurate contact tracing when someone is symptomatic or tests positive for COVID-19. The contact data is logged in a secure system and can be accessed to contact trace in the event of an infection.

As for the actual Covid testing for coaches, players and football staff, that begins on Sunday, with another Wednesday and a third on Friday - a rapid diagnostic test where results are known 15 minutes after the test is concluded.

Georgia, like all SEC schools, also has the ability to test on game days should symptoms arise.

Tests on Sunday and Wednesday are conducted by the same third-party provider used by all 14 teams in the league.

“The nice thing about the third-party provider is we’re doing it equally across the board with all 14 schools using the exact same lab, the exact same collection people,” Georgia Director of Sports Medicine Ron Courson said recently. “We have trained, lab technicians collecting it so that we’re going to have apples to apples.

“Generally, on the PCRs (Sunday and Wednesday Covid tests), you’re looking at about 48 hours max to get results that. The rapid diagnostic test on Friday is different. That is immediately back. Before you get on a plane, before you get on a bus, you can do effective screening and feel as good as you can about your travel party before you get on the road.”

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said Monday that he is confident the steps and protocols that have been put in place are keeping his players as safe as possible.

“They are trying to weed out anyone being in the travel party that would have COVID,” Smart said. “Can you 100 percent do that? No. But we can come as accurately as possible, and that would be the goal. As far as actual travel, it is not like we are going to be completely in a bubble. We are going to be on planes and buses, transporting the same way we typically do.”

That is where the new SafeTags come in, to assist with contract tracing Courson believes is imperative.

“The reason for contact tracing is to try to minimize your risk,” said Courson, who went on to outline what happens whenever there is a positive test.

“If we have a positive, the first thing you have to do is isolate them for their protection and everyone else. We have an isolation protocol,” Courson said. “We follow up with some follow up tests—an antibody tests, certain lab tests. We do a pretty extensive cardiac test. Then they follow up with our team physician, our cardiologist, and our infectious disease physician. If you are asymptomatic, it is 10 days from a positive test. They are isolated throughout that time.

“We don’t let them exercise during that time. That is different from an exposure. We allow them to exercise. From a positive test, we want to be safe with everything we do and we’re trying to base everything we do on evidence-based medicine science.”

Although it is unclear how many total positive tests have occurred, Georgia officials did reveal following a Freedom of Information request, that as of June 9, that the 100 students-athletes who were tested on campus revealed seven positive results.