24 active COVID-19 cases among student athletes

Alejandra Yañez | THE RIDER

As of this afternoon, there are 24 reported cases of UTRGV student athletes who tested positive for COVID-19, officials confirm. 

“We currently have 24 cases in Athletics, and that number will change, and as those cases are current we’re hoping to see that number drop substantially over the next week or two,” said  Chasse Conque, vice president and director of Athletics.

Sports affected by the virus are men’s basketball, volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s golf, cross-country and track and field. 

The Rider previously reported that 10 student athletes tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Since then, an additional 14 cases have been reported between Oct. 15 and 21, according to the University Updates/Resources Related to COVID-19 website.

Asked when these cases in the UTRGV Department of Intercollegiate Athletics first began, Conque replied, “As far as that initial 12, it would have been probably 14 days ago.”

He said he is not able to share the initial source of these cases. 

“Contact tracing helps us figure out exactly where the initial case started,” Conque said. “I’m not privy to give that specific information, but through regular testing and also testing symptomatic student athletes, we got a platform in place that each day our student athletes do a wellness check. And, so, it’s a variety of questions, it’s temperature taking and, so, that’s also part of our daily protocol.”

He said all student athletes, faculty and staff are required to complete this wellness check daily before coming to campus. 

Asked why the Athletics department did not announce these cases, Conque replied that university officials decided in May to report all cases as a university.

“We work very closely with Mr. [Doug] Arney, [vice president for Administrative Support Services and chair of the UTRGV Infectious Disease Committee] and his operation, and the COVID taskforce back starting in May, when dean [John] Krouse [UTRGV School of Medicine dean and vice president for Health Affairs] led that effort, and the decision was made to report them as a university and so all of the cases that we’ve had in Athletics have been reported in the university figures,” he said.

Conque said practice has been paused for the affected teams. However, those not affected by the positives continue to attend practices and training.

“Something that’s really important in our protocol is a point that we’ve stressed, going back to the summer and continue to stress with our student athletes, is the value and the importance in really staying in your family unit, your bubble, your soft bubble,” he said. “So when we do that, and we do that well, it allows the positives to be contained to specific sports. …. Because of our student athletes and the other sports that have respected that bubble concept, they’ve been able to continue practice and training.”

Conque said contact tracing for the 24 cases should be complete to his knowledge and stressed that it is ongoing because the department tests regularly.

“I think it’s fair to say that when this story is released, contact tracing could be going on because of possible positives,” he said.

For student athletes who are believed to be exposed after contact tracing, Conque said, “If contact tracing led us to believe that there was an exposure to the COVID positive, those student athletes are in self-isolation. And so they have a 14-day isolation that’s mandated by our department and university policy.”

He said he does not have the exact number of people who are in isolation. 

“I don’t have that exact number, but the teams that we referred to, most of those athletes are in self-isolation,” Conque said.

As reported by Vaquero Radio on Oct. 16, Conque said student athletes must be in isolation for a 10-day period and the university does not require a negative COVID-19 test result before returning to the sport.

“The student athlete does not have to have a negative test after that 10-day isolation period,” he said. “What they do have to do is undergo a transition kind of resocialization back to sport.”

This “return to sport” requires an EKG (electrocardiogram) and other reviews that are overseen by UTRGV Athletics physicians.

“It’s usually a five-day transition to get them back to sport,” Conque said in an interview Oct. 16 with Luis Rubio of Vaquero Radio.

The Athletics director told The Rider athletes are being tested weekly using a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) nasal test. 

Asked if he believes the “spike” in cases will delay the upcoming basketball season, he replied, “I think at this point, we’re sitting here five weeks prior to basketball and, no, I don’t see this delaying our season, but I do think it’s going to be a very unusual year for all sports.”

Conque said the Athletics department continues to stay in constant communication with its athletes and looks to have better weeks in the near future. 

“We really feel like we’ll get back on a really good track to be able to start competing in basketball being the first up, starting on Nov. 25,” he said.

Asked what’s next for the Athletics department after these 24 cases, Conque replied, “This is a trend that, unfortunately, we’ve seen across the country and we were trending really, really well until the past couple of weeks and [we’re] certainly concerned with the spike in cases, but we’ll continue to heal up and make sure our student athletes are fine, you know, make sure their health is always at the forefront. Everything we’ve done this year, as a university and Athletics department, is to make sure they’re safe and well and at the same time trying to give our young people the opportunity to compete and get back on the court and on the field.”

He said the numbers that UTRGV Athletics has posted are not any different than many athletic departments across the country, but he wants the university to be better.