City Says Cal Already Knows Timetable for Players' Return - ASU Game in Doubt

Bears coach Justin Wilcox expects a decision from Berkeley Public Health by Wednesday on whether they can play Saturday night's game in Tempe, Ariz.

Cal was hoping to get a decision from Berkeley Public Health by Monday on whether it would get clearance to play Saturday night's game at Arizona State, but as of Tuesday morning Cal still was awaiting word on whether the game will be played or canceled.

A statement from the City of Berkeley on Tuesday night indicated the issue will be resolved according to a timetable that is already established.

"The University was made aware last week of the timeline for when the case will end their isolation period and for when the contacts will end their quarantine," spokesperson Matthai Chakko said in a statement sent to Cal Sports Report and other media outlets. "The team should use that information as a timeline for return of those individuals to the field. No further direction is pending from the City."

The latest from ESPN's Kyle Bonagura early Wednesday afternoon:

The Cal football team has been given no indication, one way or another, about the status of its game vs ASU, per source. "Crickets." Team proceeding as if there is a game until told otherwise. Team meetings at 2.

— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) November 11, 2020

Point of contention from Cal: City did not go through the program to interview players about their contact to determine if close contact designation was warranted. Just started calling players to tell them they had to quarantine based on the interview with the positive case.

— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) November 11, 2020

Cal had a defensive lineman tested positive for the coronavirus last week, and the resulting contact tracing of the entire position group of defensive linemen caused the cancellation of this past Saturday's game against Washington and put the game at Arizona State in jeopardy.

Asked whether he had received a decision from Berkeley Public Health regarding the Arizona State game, Cal coach Justin Wilcox said the following Tuesday morning:

"We have not," he said in the video above. "I was told by university, our athletic administration we would know something by Wednesday. That came from the public health office and the representatives here on campus to public health. We are operating like we're going to play."

Cal is continuing to practice, but is still without the players involved in the contact tracing protocol, and Wilcox said Tueday it is more players than just defensive linemen. 

Wilcox said the team is operating as though it will play Saturday.

"They told me there's a chance we will play," Wilcox said. "I don't know why they would make the decisions they've made. We're trying to get clarity on that, but those are not discussions I'm involved in. If they tell us there's a chance we can play, we're going to practice. The only way to look at it is to be optimistic. . . Until they tell us otherwise, that's what we're doing."

Earlier Tuesday, Chakko said the timetable is dictated by the last time those in quarantine had contact with the infected player. Cal announced one of its players had tested positive last Wednesday, although that may not be the same day other players most recently had contact with him. 

Chakko confirmed anyone exposed to a person who has tested positive must be quarantined for 14 days to make sure they are not infected.

He noted that it is inaccurate to say the cancellation of the Cal-Washington game was caused by a single positive test.

“It’s been phrased as one case,” Chakko said. “That’s just not true. The issue here is not the [single] case. The issue is the exposure to the case.

“We know this is a very easily spread disease that has no treatment and no vaccine. The only way to stop the spread is isolation and quarantine after a case has been identified.

“If a broken leg meant that 12 other people could have a broken leg, we’d treat broken legs differently. It’s different with COVID. One person with a case and 12 people all could get the same injury. And it’s not just about them. It’s all the family and community members who could be exposed by just breathing in the same room for 15 minutes.”

**Wilcox discusses why Cal cannot play while other teams can. 

Including the Arizona State game, Cal has just five games scheduled before the participants in the Pac-12 championship game are determined.

Cal quarterback Chase Garbers said Tuesday night that the team continues to plug away despite the uncertainty regarding the next game.

"It’s kind of frustrating not knowing, but that goes with anything," Garbers said. "But we’re preparing as if we’re playing, and hopefully we find out tomorrow [Wednesday], and hopefully it’s good news too, so we can go down there to Tempe and play the Sun Devils.”

He said that the uncertainty is not affecting intensity at practice.

“No, not at all," Garbers said. "Ever since we were told we were out certain players and we weren’t playing Washington, the same intensity in practice is shown. There’s no skipping a beat at practice whatsoever.”

Garbers claims he has general understanding of why the Washington game was canceled and why the Arizona State game is in jeopardy.

“Obviously there’s a lot of questions that aren’t being answered," he said, "so hopefully we can get those answered soon.”

**Chase Garbers talks abount the uncertainty of this week's game:

Cal was scheduled to open its 2020 season this past Saturday with a home game against Washington, but that game was canceled when Berekely Public Health did not give the team clearance to play after one Cal player -- a defensive lineman -- tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

That player's entire position unit--all defensive linemen--were then subject to contact tracing and quarantine, which was why the game was canceled.

The fact that other teams across the country were able to play games despite similar circumstances frustrated Golden Bears players and coaches.

Washington coach Jimmy Lake told ESPN's Kyle Bonagura that, if the roles had been reversed, the decision on the Washington end would have been different, suggesting the Cal-Washington game would have been played.

UW coach Jimmy Lake indicates he believes that if the roles with Cal were reversed, UW's medical team would have handled the situation differently than Berkeley Public Health. pic.twitter.com/gb5PXcNEoZ

— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) November 9, 2020

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