The SEC will require two coronavirus tests weekly, and coaches will be needed to use a face mask or neck gaiter on the sideline at all times during football video games, the conference announced Friday as part of its preliminary medical procedures.
Coaches and gamers who are not competing will be needed to wear a face mask or neck gaiter that need to “cover both the nose and mouth such that neither nostrils nor the pointer of the nose is visible.” Contending players must wear a neck gaiter throughout timeouts or when conferring with coaches on the sideline.
Gamers will be checked six days and 3 days before a video game, implying tests generally will happen Sunday and Wednesday. A twice-weekly screening requirement also exists for other sports considered “high danger,” such as soccer and volley ball.
1 RelatedA favorable test will need a player to separate for a minimum of 10 days and be asymptomatic, while prolonged direct exposure will cause a 14-day quarantine, according to the league protocols.
The conference will coordinate screening through a third celebration, and each school will designate a COVID-19 procedure oversight officer to make sure compliance.
” Our Medical Task Force is producing an effective strategy for screening and monitoring, which complements the alert everyday efforts of our schools to develop and keep healthy environments in which our student-athletes can train and compete,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement.
The task force recommended exploring alternative screening approaches to accommodate for a third weekly test that might offer outcomes closer to the start of a game.
According to the release, the SECs medical requirements are based on “presently readily available details” and that “each organization is accountable for the management of its student-athletes and is subject to the requirements imposed by its state and regional health departments, in addition to state law.”
” Our Medical Task Force is producing an effective technique for testing and tracking, which matches the watchful day-to-day efforts of our schools to establish and keep healthy environments in which our student-athletes can train and complete,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a declaration. The SEC likewise described its factors to consider for the discontinuation of video games: – Inability to isolate new favorable cases or quarantine high-risk contacts of cases of university students. Local or – campuswide community positivity test rates that are thought about unsafe by local public health authorities. – Local public health officials indicate an inability for the medical facility facilities to accommodate a surge in COVID-19-related hospitalizations.
The SEC likewise outlined its factors to consider for the discontinuation of video games: – Inability to isolate brand-new favorable cases or quarantine high-risk contacts of cases of university trainees. – Campuswide or regional community positivity test rates that are considered risky by regional public health officials.
Acknowledging the potential effect of the infection on gamers mental wellness, the SEC recommended that all universities “be aware of and address the psychological health needs of its student-athletes.”
In football, the SEC plans to play a 10-game, conference-only schedule that will begin Sept. 26.
Preseason practice can start Aug. 17, and each school will be allowed an overall of 25 practices with a limit of 20 hours per week.
