The Daily Orange is a nonprofit newsroom that receives no funding from Syracuse University. Consider donating today to support our mission.

The Atlantic Coast Conference will require three COVID-19 tests per week for football, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey and volleyball athletes, the conference announced Friday. 

The conference has also implemented “several enhancements” to protocols regarding cardiac testing, specifically for athletes that test positive for COVID-19.

The announcement comes after the ACC’s first Medical Advisory Group report, released July 29, suggested testing athletes only once a week. One of those tests must still be administered within three days of competition, the conference stated Friday in a release. Cross country athletes will still be tested every other week.

The ACC also added protocols for football. Players should be tested a day prior to competition and then within 48 hours of the game’s conclusion. A third party will conduct the test prior to gameday, and testing applies to all “team members,” which includes players, coaches and administrative staff, the release states.

Syracuse players have sat out four training camp practices since Aug. 6, in part calling for increased COVID-19 testing. SU agreed to test its football players three times per week once the season began, but until Aug. 28, the ACC had not made a conference-wide ruling regarding more frequent COVID-19 testing.

Every athlete that tests positive will “undergo a cardiac evaluation,” before they gradually return to play, the ACC stated.

The conference also made changes to football’s sideline protocols in order to eliminate all “non-essential personnel” from team areas.

Published on August 28, 2020 at 4:52 pm

Contact Roshan: rferna04@syr.edu | @Roshan_f16