ACC adds to COVID-19 policy changes, hopes to keep schedules (mostly) intact
N.C. State’s Kevin Keatts wants to be wrong about the Omicron.
Keatts thinks that the latest COVID-19 variant will at some point cause nearly every men’s basketball program to pause team activities this season. That goes for the Wolfpack too, even though Keatts said 100 percent of his team is vaccinated.
“It seems like it’s a little bit more contagious than ever,” Keatts said. “I do still think that everybody has got to continue with the vaccination and the booster, but this variant Omicron seems like it’s going to affect everybody.”
It would seem the ACC agrees. Last week, the conference’s 15 athletic directors voted to modify the COVID-19 policy for the 2021-22 season.
The ACC initially was set to punish teams that had to back out of games due to positive tests with forfeits. Boston College was given a loss to Wake Forest when its program shut down team activities due to an abundance of players entering COVID protocols. The league rescinded the loss when it changed the policy because it recognizes that even teams that have more than 85 percent of its players vaccinated can still have to shut down.
The ACC took another step on Monday that could lead to fewer interruptions to the schedule. The league’s medical advisory group suggests that a vaccinated player who tests positive for COVID can be cleared after one of two scenarios according to a release:
“At least seven days have elapsed since the first positive test, the individual’s symptoms are improving, and the individual has one negative test (i.e., molecular PCR or antigen) within 24 hours of being cleared. Once asymptomatic, the individual has two negative tests (i.e., molecular PCR or antigen) from specimens that are collected at least 24 hours apart.”
Keatts said even though the process has been shortened, a player could still be out from 10-15 days while trying to be cleared medically. That includes being fever-free for 24 hours prior to returning.
“I trust the medical advisory that’s making the decisions,” Keatts said. “It seems to me that it’s not affecting as many people as far as getting so sick. I do trust that it will help us be able to get back to the court as soon as possible and the ultimate goal is to try to play as many games.”
The virus has already decimated games slated for Wednesday with Duke at Clemson, Florida State at Boston College and Virginia Tech at North Carolina all being postponed. Duke’s game for Saturday at Notre Dame will also have to be rescheduled.
Carolina is still hopeful that its game at Boston College on Saturday will be played. The league standard is that a team has to have seven scholarship players available and one coach in order to play a game.
Keatts said one of the hidden factors in dealing with the virus is that even when a team is so-called healthy, it could still not be at full strength. N.C. State does not allow players who have symptoms to practice until they are tested.
“That’s one of the forgotten things,” Keatts said. “How many times you don’t have your entire team every day, just because every program has to be cautious about it.”
It could make for a trying season, but the league is preparing to be flexible about it.
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 1:41 PM with the headline "ACC adds to COVID-19 policy changes, hopes to keep schedules (mostly) intact."