Report: Big Ten Alters CoVID-19 Protocols for False Positives on Game Day

Ohio State linebacker Justin Hilliard's false positive CoVID test last week and resulting absence from the game sparked a change in the Big Ten testing protocols.

Last week's pregame frustration for the Ohio State Buckeyes has sparked change in the Big Ten CoVID-19 protocols.

Prior to arguably the biggest game of the regular season, the Ohio State Buckeyes learned that linebacker Justin Hilliard had a false positive test for the coronavirus during Ohio State's normal testing procedures on game day. 

Hilliard was allowed to remain with the team travel party and be on the sidelines during the game (because he didn't have the virus), but he wasn't allowed to play. That was a point of contention by Ohio State because he had turned around a negative test and the Buckeyes were frustrated that Hilliard was not allowed to compete.

Prior to the start of this week's games, Scott Dochterman of The Athletic says the Big Ten has changed their rules.

B1G testing change this week, Gary Barta: "If a student-athlete tests positive with the rapid antigen test, we will be able to test a student-athlete on either team with a PCR and get that result before the game. If they test negative on the PCR, they'll still be able to play."

— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) November 5, 2020

The Big Ten protocol stipulates that each player is given a rapid antigen test on a daily basis, including on game day. Hilliard's initial result came back positive last Saturday.

As has been protocol across the league, all positive antigen test results are confirmed with a PCR test. Hilliard's PCR test came back negative, indicating that his first test was indeed a false positive. The PCR tests are considered to be a better indicator for diagnosing the virus because they test the actual DNA inside the cells, instead of testing for proteins consistent with the virus on the exterior of the cell walls.

Ohio State vs. Rutgers Game Preview

Head coach Ryan Day said on Thursday that Hilliard wasn't held out of last week's game because they didn't value the PCR test result. Instead, he didn't play because the Big Ten needed to make sure that each school had access to test a student-athlete in the same way the Buckeyes did for Hilliard. Moving forward now, should this situation occur, a player could compete if they register a false positive antigen test.

“The way that it was explained to me was that not every school has the opportunity to get that PCR in that short of a time, and so they wanted to make sure it was equal across the board,” Day said. “That’s something that everybody had to agree upon in order to get the season started.”

🙃🙃👏👏 https://t.co/m3v4GppOCh

— Justin Hilliard (@JHilliard47) November 6, 2020

The Big Ten was already using PCR tests to confirm or negate any positive antigen tests, but it was unclear if teams that were traveling could all turn around the results of a PCR test quickly enough to rule out a false positive. Players in the Big Ten that are diagnosed with CoVID-19 must quarantine and sit out 21 days, which translates to missing three games in an already shortened season.

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