University of Oregon football says the five positive COVID-19 tests that were announced last weekend have turned out to be false positives.
Officials said on Tuesday the results were discovered to be false after two subsequent negative PCR tests were conducted at independent labs.
The five student-athletes who were believed to have COVID-19 had been in isolation since Saturday and the team scrimmage scheduled for that day was called off. Following consultation between UO Athletic Medicine and Lane County Public Health, the five isolated players returned to the team to participate in the resumption of practice on Tuesday.
The athletic department says there was regular PCR testing on Sunday as well as the standard daily antigen testing on Monday and Tuesday, with all results returning as negative.
Head coach Mario Cristobal addressed the situation in a press call after Tuesday night's return to practice. He said "the first thing that hits you is a little bit of a dose of reality, what's going on and transpiring around the world and in the college football world and what different places have had to deal with. And at the same time, just immediately trusting the processes that are in place." He added that he thought the responses surrounding the situation "worked out pretty well," specifically, "the way that the people that were urgently and immediately at the side of the people that needed to be." He also said that he could see these "processes continuing to get better and better."
The Ducks, who are ranked No. 14 in the latest AP Coaches Poll, are set to begin their shortened season on November 7 when they will host Stanford. Meanwhile, they will continue their testing protocol.
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