Playing college football games didn’t spread coronavirus among athletes

Playing college football games didn’t spread coronavirus among athletes

 

With testing and other mitigation measures in place, playing college football games did not contribute to coronavirus spread among players in the NCAA's Southeastern Conference last year, according to a study published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open.   At some points during the pandemic, it wasn't clear there would even be a college football season. Players don't wear face coverings when they play; they don't wash their hands before fiddling with their mouthguards or touching a shared object like the football; they shout when they are in close proximity to each other; and they pile on each other when tackling.   Yet with mitigation measures, the organizations that run college football thought they could play safely -- even in parts of the country with high transmission rates, and before vaccines were available.   In addition to regular testing and quarantine and isolation protocols, there were a few other factors that may have kept the players safe.   While football is an intense contact sport, the interactions among athletes were quick. Most contact lasted less than 26 seconds, according to sensor data. Only 13 player-to-player interactions met the definition of what the CDC defined as a "close contact exposure," meaning the player was within 6 feet of another for more than 15 minutes. Of those 13, none of those interactions resulted in anyone getting sick.