At least 5 Alabama Players Tested Positive for Coronavirus

After these positive cases surfaced on the campus, many players will need to be quarantined as per the medical safety guidelines. In addition to the Alabama players, there is also news about Multiple Oklahoma State players being tested for coronavirus. These players who have been tested positive will have to follow the local & CDC health guidelines. Per the SEC guidelines, these players will have to be immediately isolated and the school must strictly follow the contact tracing procedures & guidelines.

According to the sources, at least one of these players who have been tested positive had attended the workout session with other players. The affected player was asymptomatic, and that is where the spread began. This workout session was attended by as many as 50 players. Because of the privacy laws, Alabama has not shared the complete information about student-athletes. In a statement released by the school reads as “The health and safety of our student-athletes is a top priority. Resources and protocols are in place to ensure they receive the best medical care when returning to campus. Due to privacy laws, we cannot share information specific to the health of our student-athletes.”

When are On-campus athletic activities Beginning?

All the On-campus athletic activities will start from Monday, June 8. The announcement from SEC came which talked about allowing the athletes for in-person activities on the campus. The conference said that “return-to-campus processes would be constructed at the discretion of each university and would be done under the strict supervision of designated university personnel and safety guidelines developed by each institution.” Through May 31 almost all athletic activities have been put to a halt in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

However, in a recent statement from SEC, June 8 is going to play a pivotal role when the student-athletes will be back on the campus. With this announcement, the Alabama players have been returning to the campus before June 8, so that they can get the medical tests done before the campus athletic activities start. The SEC has also put forth a “Medical Guidance Task Force.” This task force will be taking care of the plans and the immediate actions to be taken in case a player gets tested positive for coronavirus. Greg Byrne, Alabama athletic director had maintained that the health and safety of the entire team including coaches, staff members & the players is the primary concern.

Byrne in a statement said that “Resumption of voluntary in-person activity is an important step in moving us towards the fall athletic season which we are fully preparing for with a phased approach beginning June 8. In addition to our public health officials, we are fortunate to have an elite sports medicine staff here at Alabama, from our athletic trainers at our team doctors that we will continue to take direction from as we make decisions for a safe return. We look forward to welcoming back our student-athletes, coaches, and staff to campus.”

In an awareness campaign, Nick Saban, the Alabama coach also released a video where he urged fans to wear masks and strictly follow the social distancing rules so that they could see players on the fields again.