COVID-19: Cal Testing Results Still Encouraging as Football Camp Approaches

Cal Athletics released its latest set of COVID-19 test results, and the numbers continue to be good.

Over the past month, the athletic department has administered 954 more PRC tests with just seven unique positive results. That’s a positivity rate of just 0.7 percent.

Cal gave more tests over the past month than it had in any month since testing began in June, in part because athletes from additional sports have been returned to campus and underwent testing. New to the process were men and women on Cal’s basketball, swimming and diving, track and field and gymnastics.

The results are the first provided by Cal since last Friday when the Pac-12 announced it has reversed its Aug. 11 decision to postponed the fall football season until the winter or spring.

Because of improved testing capabilities with athletes, including the availability of rapid-response daily antigen testing, Pac-12 presidents approved a seven-game, conference-only schedule, beginning the weekend of Nov. 6-7.

Altogether, Cal has administered 1,862 tests to athletes since June, with 18 positive results, a rate of 0.97 percent. Results include athletes who have been tested on more than one occasion.

Cal does not release the names of athletes for privacy purposes and does not provide a breakdown by sport.

In its previous release of testing data, on Aug. 26, Cal announced just one positive result among 358 athletes test, a positivity rate of 0.3 percent.

Cal football was permitted beginning last Friday to increase workout cohorts from 12 to 25, although the Bears’ full, one-month training camp isn’t scheduled to begin until Friday, Oct. 9.

All other fall sports remain postponed until the winter or spring.

The Pac-12 also has followed the lead of the NCAA and will begin men’s and women’s basketball games on Nov. 25.

The Pac-12 announced the acquisition of a second kind of COVID-19 testing which the conference hopes will increase its chances of completing a successful fall season.

Elsewhere in the country, about two dozen FBS games have been postponed or canceled due to the pandemic.

Schools including Houston, Memphis, Baylor, FAU, Virginia Tech, Arkansas State, Charlotte and Rice all have had more than one game disrupted.

Notre Dame’s game against Wake Forest last Saturday was postponed after the Irish announced 13 players are in isolation after testing positive.

Games originally scheduled for this weekend that have been at least put on hold are Rice at Marshall and Troy at South Alabama. UAB’s game at Rice, originally slated for Oct. 10, also has been postponed.

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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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