The Pac-12 conference will require its member institutions to perform weekly COVID-19 tests on student-athletes as voluntary workouts resume for the first time since mid-March. Every school in the Pac-12 will test athletes for COVID-19 before workouts can resume on June 15, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said in an interview with 247Sports.
The Pac-12 is the first of the NCAA’s Power 5 conferences to confirm a uniformed coronavirus testing approach. According to Scott, the conference is collaborating with “seven or eight” infectious disease experts that are affiliated with medical departments from its member institutions. The Pac-12 will continue to evolve its testing protocols throughout the summer.
“We are going to have uniformity in the Pac-12. We’ve got a very strong medical advisory committee made up of our team docs and trainers,” Scott said. [...] “There are some Pac-12 guidelines that do mandate that all student athletes are tested when they come back to campus, as well as regular testing beyond that. I think at the moment, it will be weekly testing.”
Scott added that the Pac-12 will also test athletes for COVID-19 antibodies. The NCAA announced in late May that college athletes across all sports can resume voluntary activities starting June 1. The SEC, another Power 5 conference, resumed on-campus voluntary workouts on June 8. The Southeastern Conference has not announced coronavirus testing protocols for its member schools.
“There is also going to be antibody testing for all student-athletes when they come back for a couple reasons: first and foremost, if you had the virus, there's a heightened level of concern with cardiac and lung [health]. There's going to be other screenings and protocols,” Scott said.
While college conferences outside the Pac-12 have been reluctant to enact mandated conference-wide coronavirus testing procedures, pro sports appears to be taking a more uniformed approach. For example, the NHL plans to conduct daily COVID-19 tests on players if its season resumes according to the Associated Press.
For some college sports teams across the U.S, discussing coronavirus testing programs will be a moot point. The Associated Press reported that 97 sports teams from four-year schools across the NCAA and NAIA have been eliminated due to budget cuts stemming from the pandemic.
