When Georgia begins fall camp next week, it appears the Bulldogs will do so with a full complement of players.
According to UGA Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine Ron Courson, no Bulldogs have decided to opt out due to concerns over Covid-19.
“There have been no opt-outs at this point. But they understand they have that option, and they have the right to make an informed decision,” Courson said. “If they opted out, they would obviously keep their scholarship intact just like any athlete here.”
Courson’s comments Friday came during an approximate 25-minute Zoom call with reporters following the SEC’s announcement earlier in the day regarding the Covid-19 medical protocols that have been put in place by the league.
Courson headed up the SEC’s Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force that has been working extensively with the league office.
“We’re as confident as we can be,” said Courson, when asked how confident he is that football will indeed be able to return.
“The message you have to look at here is, we’re in the middle of a pandemic. We can’t do everything, but what we can do is to keep it as safe as we can within a safe environment,” he said. “I believe we have done everything we can do to be safe. But you have to continually reassess, because things change, and you have to be flexible.
“The way I look at it, I have four kids; if I didn't feel it was safe for them to be out here, they wouldn’t be out there now. I do think we can be safe, but we have to be very prudent in what we do; very deliberate, but we also have to be flexible.”
According to the new protocol, all coaches, staff members, and players not actually in the game will be required to wear masks.
He does not anticipate this being an issue.
“What we want to do is, if you are not competing, we want you to have a mask on. Obviously having a mask does impede your ability to breathe effectively so like if you're on the sideline and you're not in the game, you're expected to have a mask pulled up over your mouth and nose,” Courson said. “The same thing . . . really anybody on the grass—coaches, sports medicine staff, and so forth. The athletes will have a gaiter, so they will have the capability to, when they are in the game, they can have it pulled down. If they are out of the game, they can pull it up. But obviously, they may be hydrating on the sideline, too, so it cannot be up all the time. We're just trying to do as much risk mitigation as we can."
Courson also explained what happens should a player test positive.
“If we have a positive, the first thing you have to do is isolate them for their protection and everyone else,” he said. “We have an isolation protocol. Then you must communicate with the department of public health. We also must communicate with the university as well.
“It’s really important to understand that we’re a part of the bigger university so we’re working in conjunction with the health department and the university health center to make sure our protocols are meshing with them. We’re overlapping well.”
That's not all.
Once a player tests positive, follow-up tests are conducted that include antibody, lab and an extensive cardiac test before athletes meet with the team physician, cardiologist, and infectious disease physician.
“Right now, we sort of outline the protocol. On a positive test, you're out 10 days. That's the CDC guidelines and the state department of health. If you're symptomatic, it's 10 days from the onset of symptoms,” Courson said. “If you are asymptomatic, it’s 10 days from a positive test. They're isolated throughout that time. We don't let them exercise during that time. That's 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 medical science.”
Extensive contact tracing is also conducted.
“The reason for contact tracing is to try to minimize your risk. The general definition of a high exposure is, somebody who is within six feet for longer than 15 minutes. So, if that person reaches the definition of high exposure, they must be quarantined,” Courson said. “Right now, the rules of the CDC and the department of public health is to quarantine for 14 days. They can do exercise, because they don't have a positive test. Now anybody who is exposed, we automatically put them in our testing protocol immediately, and then we put them into quarantine. It's important that we do that. So again, we want to communicate with our athletes and make sure they don’t feel like they’re at risk either.”
Courson was also asked the hypothetical question of what will happen if you have two quarterbacks, one test positive, and whether the second would have to be quarantined for 14 days.
“If they met the 15-minute, six-feet rule, they would be considered high exposure. So, one thing we are trying to do is minimize that,” he said. “That’s why anywhere in our facility, our athletes wear masks. All our meeting rooms were adjusted to be, so we always sit six feet apart.
“We’re still doing a significant number of meetings by Zoom, so we can minimize that. We have done some simple things as well, like we have adjusted the HVAC in the buildings, so we do all outside draw in. So, we do all outside air drawn in. We have created negative pressure rooms in the facility like they have in the hospital. The more things we can do with that, you can do your contact tracing, so you can minimize exposures.”
