Oklahoma football: No COVID positives for second straight week
By Chip Rouse
More good news from the Oklahoma football program in a time and place when the daily headlines tell us that conditions continue to get worse, not better, regarding COVID-19 exposures.
For a second consecutive week OU is reporting no new positive tests for COVID-19.
Oklahoma conducted its third weekly COVID-19 testing on Wednesday since beginning voluntary workouts on July 1, several weeks after most of the other major college programs. Ninety-eight players and 30 staff members were tested. No one tested positive and there were 18 recoveries (16 players and two support staff).
Upon the players’ return to the Norman campus on July 1, 111 players were tested and 14 tested positive, including two who were in recovery.
Given the nationwide spread of the virus and with players coming from various and sundry locations outside of Oklahoma, which itself has reported a rise in recent COVID cases, it probably wasn’t that surprising to have some players test positive upon reporting for voluntary workouts. But the numbers reported in the two subsequent testing cycles is a positive reflection that the protocols and procedures the Sooners have put in place to guard against COVID exposure are working.
Oklahoma’s outcomes are particularly noteworthy considering that some top schools have reported as many as 30 players testing positive and others have had to completely suspend workouts because of the number of players with positive COVID tests.
Head coach Lincoln Riley has been strong advocate for wearing masks and actively practicing social distancing.
“They physically distance the players and have them all in masks,” OU’s chief COVID officer, Dr. Dale Bratzler, told The Oklahoman newspaper. “And it’s working. They’re wearing masks all the time during indoor and outdoor training, and they’ve really taken it to heart.”
It isn’t masks and social distancing alone, however, that has helped Oklahoma manage the COVID situation better than others. Some of the programs that have experienced more issues than others is because of players leaving the campus.
Bratzler said that Riley and his staff have been proactive in educating the players about the consequences of a coronavirus outbreak and encouraging them to hold each other accountable.
Now that they’ve shown that the protocols that are in place and ongoing communication with the players and staff are working as far protecting the health and safety of the players from COVID exposure, the next challenge for OU officials will be maintaining the same controls when all the non-athletic student population returns to campus.