BC Continues to Record Perfect COVID-19 Test Numbers
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
ACC presidents met yesterday and, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel, “They are staying the course and continuing to seek medical advice.”
The same could be said about Boston College football.
Jeff Hafley’s team posted another perfect round of COVID-19 tests on Friday—105 student-athletes, coaches, and staff members were tested, and every one of them came back negative. All in all, the program has administered 792 total tests, with only one positive test, which occurred at the beginning of July. That player has since recovered, per BC Athletics.
Just four days ago, Hafley told reporters that 164 student-athletes, coaches, and staff members were tested last weekend, and not one positive case was recorded. Then, back on Aug. 1, the team reported that all 154 program participants who were tested on July 31 produced negative results.
The single aforementioned positive case took place during the first reported wave of BC’s COVID-19 testing, when 92 of 93 players tested negative for the virus.
“It shows you that our guys are doing everything that they can to keep each other safe, and I give them credit,” Hafley said after Friday’s practice, per BC Athletics. “The protocols are on point. We’re following them the best that we can, and we feel safe around here in our bubble.
It’s not easy, and there’s going to be times where it does get hard. It’s pretty amazing when you look at what these guys have done so far.”
Preparing for the ACC’s first-ever 10-game conference schedule, BC completed its eighth day of training camp on Friday. Because of the Eagles’ success under COVID-19 protocol, the team has yet to suspend practice, whereas some other ACC programs have had to pause camp.
Pittsburgh canceled practice on Thursday due to several players showing coronavirus symptoms. Symptomatic players were tested and, after receiving negative test results, Athletic Director Heather Lyke released a statement saying that it had been determined that the program could return to practice on Friday.
Syracuse hasn’t had an uninterrupted training camp, either. As of Thursday, Orange players had elected not to practice three times in the past eight days because of COVID-19 concerns. They want to be tested for coronavirus more frequently and won’t resume camp until they get their most recent test results, according to Syracuse.com. In addition to Thursday’s practice, Syracuse also didn’t suit up on Aug. 6 and Aug. 7—the first two days of camp—because of dissatisfaction with other ACC schools’ COVID-19 protocols, according to The Daily Orange.
Then, of course, there’s Florida State, which hasn’t released testing results since players returned to campus in late June. ESPN college football writer David Hale filed a report on Thursday about three Seminoles wide receivers who have turned to social media to voice their complaints about a lack of transparency within FSU’s COVID-19 operational plan, with wideout Warren Thompson even writing an open letter to the university stating that he had been lied to multiple times about the program’s coronavirus protocol.
BC, on the other hand, has reported COVID-19 results twice in the past week alone. After the players arrived in Chestnut Hill on June 22, they were isolated before being tested around day eight of the Massachusetts-recommended 14-day quarantine. And since student-athletes, coaches, and staff have been cleared, they’ve been given daily temperature checks before entering the school’s athletic facilities.
BC Athletics-approved personnel are required to wear masks in all common areas, and every player has a Schutt “Splash Shield” attached to their helmet in order to create a physical barrier and protect the student-athletes, coaches, and staff members from the propulsion of respiratory droplets.
“Doing all of the right things off the field is giving us a chance to do them on the field,” Hafley said. “And so far we’ve been very fortunate to be able to do that. So hopefully we’ll keep moving forward, and we’ll kick the ball off in September.”
The program will once again test players, coaches, and staff this weekend.
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
ACC presidents met yesterday and, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel, “They are staying the course and continuing to seek medical advice.”
The same could be said about Boston College football.
Jeff Hafley’s team posted another perfect round of COVID-19 tests on Friday—105 student-athletes, coaches, and staff members were tested, and every one of them came back negative. All in all, the program has administered 792 total tests, with only one positive test, which occurred at the beginning of July. That player has since recovered, per BC Athletics.
Just four days ago, Hafley told reporters that 164 student-athletes, coaches, and staff members were tested last weekend, and not one positive case was recorded. Then, back on Aug. 1, the team reported that all 154 program participants who were tested on July 31 produced negative results.
The single aforementioned positive case took place during the first reported wave of BC’s COVID-19 testing, when 92 of 93 players tested negative for the virus.
“It shows you that our guys are doing everything that they can to keep each other safe, and I give them credit,” Hafley said after Friday’s practice, per BC Athletics. “The protocols are on point. We’re following them the best that we can, and we feel safe around here in our bubble.
It’s not easy, and there’s going to be times where it does get hard. It’s pretty amazing when you look at what these guys have done so far.”
Preparing for the ACC’s first-ever 10-game conference schedule, BC completed its eighth day of training camp on Friday. Because of the Eagles’ success under COVID-19 protocol, the team has yet to suspend practice, whereas some other ACC programs have had to pause camp.
Pittsburgh canceled practice on Thursday due to several players showing coronavirus symptoms. Symptomatic players were tested and, after receiving negative test results, Athletic Director Heather Lyke released a statement saying that it had been determined that the program could return to practice on Friday.
Syracuse hasn’t had an uninterrupted training camp, either. As of Thursday, Orange players had elected not to practice three times in the past eight days because of COVID-19 concerns. They want to be tested for coronavirus more frequently and won’t resume camp until they get their most recent test results, according to Syracuse.com. In addition to Thursday’s practice, Syracuse also didn’t suit up on Aug. 6 and Aug. 7—the first two days of camp—because of dissatisfaction with other ACC schools’ COVID-19 protocols, according to The Daily Orange.
Then, of course, there’s Florida State, which hasn’t released testing results since players returned to campus in late June. ESPN college football writer David Hale filed a report on Thursday about three Seminoles wide receivers who have turned to social media to voice their complaints about a lack of transparency within FSU’s COVID-19 operational plan, with wideout Warren Thompson even writing an open letter to the university stating that he had been lied to multiple times about the program’s coronavirus protocol.
BC, on the other hand, has reported COVID-19 results twice in the past week alone. After the players arrived in Chestnut Hill on June 22, they were isolated before being tested around day eight of the Massachusetts-recommended 14-day quarantine. And since student-athletes, coaches, and staff have been cleared, they’ve been given daily temperature checks before entering the school’s athletic facilities.
BC Athletics-approved personnel are required to wear masks in all common areas, and every player has a Schutt “Splash Shield” attached to their helmet in order to create a physical barrier and protect the student-athletes, coaches, and staff members from the propulsion of respiratory droplets.
“Doing all of the right things off the field is giving us a chance to do them on the field,” Hafley said. “And so far we’ve been very fortunate to be able to do that. So hopefully we’ll keep moving forward, and we’ll kick the ball off in September.”
The program will once again test players, coaches, and staff this weekend.
