Cal Football: Washington Game in Question After COVID-19 Positive by Bears Player

One player tested positive, a `significant' number of others are in contract tracing

Cal announced Wednesday night that a member of its football tested positive for COVID-19 and that several of his teammates also were held out of practice while contact tracing is completed, leaving in question the status of the Bears’ season-opening game Saturday night at home against Washington.

Asked if the game at Memorial Stadium is in jeopardy, coach Justin Wilcox on a Zoom call with reporters, said, “I would say that’s fair.”

Wilcox said players learned the news on Wednesday afternoon and practice was held but adjusted.

The player first received a positive result from a daily antigen test, then also was positive after a PCR test, which is part of the protocol.

Wilcox said that the number of players in quarantine for contact tracing is “significant.”

“We will hopefully learn in the short term where that leads us. But it’s a significant hurdle,” said Wilcox before being asked for a possible timetable. “Hopefully, very soon . . . tonight, tomorrow. We’ll need to know shortly.

“We will let this process play out, but time is of the essence, as we know.”

Wilcox later added, "If it's at all possible for us to play, we're going to play. If it's feasible for us to play we're going to play the game, I'll tell you that much. . . . If we have the bodies available to play the game, we will play."

Quarterback Chase Garbers said "shocked" was his initial reaction. "Team morale is still high. Game plan is still intact," he said. "If we can play on Saturday, we'll be ready and we're looking forward to it."

"It's definitely tough," linebacker Kuony Deng said. "We knew we were going to face this kind of adversity with the virus and the way that it spreads. We're just trying to keep a positive outlook."

*** Here is more reaction from Garbers, then Deng: 

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The Bears and Huskies are scheduled to open the season with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday. The Pac-12 initially canceled the fall season due to the pandemic, then reinstated it but cut the calendar to seven regular-season games.

“We knew that this season there’d be some hurdles,” Wilcox said. “The thing to note is the guys have done really a great job managing all this throughout the last seven months or so. And done a great job in training camp, followed the protocols and processes. Been living really well. It’s tricky situation, as we all know.”

*** Here's more reaction from Wilcox:

This was the first Cal football player to receive a positive result since daily testing began in October.

*** Here is a story from SI's Dan Raley on the Husky Maven site.

Here is Cal’s news release on the subject:

Statement From Cal Athletics:

A member of the Cal football program has tested positive for COVID-19, marking the first positive test within the Cal football program since the start of daily testing at the beginning of October. At this time, the student-athlete who tested positive is asymptomatic.

After receiving a positive result through his regularly scheduled daily antigen test, the student-athlete took a supplemental PCR test, as is protocol. The PCR test also produced a positive outcome. As a result, Cal Athletics is following recommendations from University Health Services Infection Control and Berkeley Public Health on contact tracing, quarantining, symptom monitoring and treatment. Several student-athletes were held out of practice Wednesday as a precautionary measure while contact tracing is being completed.

Since student-athlete testing began on June 4, Cal Athletics has conducted 3,547 total PCR tests among all student-athletes (through Oct. 30) with 20 positive results.