Just one day into voluntary football workouts, K-State Athletics has discovered what athletic director Gene Taylor says was “anticipated” — positive COVID-19 tests.
On Tuesday afternoon K-State Athletics confirmed that two student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19. This news comes after 120 student-athletes completed the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing as of June 16.
An earlier report from GoPowerCat.com on Tuesday indicated that the positive tests were both from football players, but this was not confirmed in a statement from the athletic department.
The names of the student-athletes who have been exposed to the virus, as well as their respective sports, have not been released.
Both positive cases will be managed based on the current local, state, national and CDC guidelines, the release says. This means that the student-athletes in question must self-isolate for 10 days as well as go 72 hours without a fever. Any individual that has come into contact with the student-athlete must also self-quarantine.
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Upon arrival to campus, all student-athletes must follow the athletic department’s return-to-campus policy, meaning a 7-day stay-at-home recommendation and quarantine when the athlete arrives in Manhattan. Student-athletes are also not allowed to participate in team activities or use athletic department facilities until they have received a negative test result.
“While we know this is a very fluid situation, we have a great plan in place and all of our student-athletes have done their part in following the correct procedures to return to campus,” Taylor said in the statement from K-State athletics.
It is not yet known how this exposure will affect the remainder of the voluntary workouts, as well as other activities by teams in the future. Just four days ago, the University of Houston suspended voluntary workouts for all of its student-athletes after six of its student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19.
The athletic department will continue to test student-athletes and release the results as they continue to return to campus.
