Alabama’s trainer Nick Saban questioned the SEC’s protocol Thursday night requiring athletes who are traced back as close contacts to COVID-infected individuals to be quarantined for 14 days.
Four of the conference’s seven football games this Saturday have been postponed, including Alabama’s trip to LSU.
“Look, the social persecution part is why these games are being canceled,” Saban said during his weekly radio show. “It’s not the number of players who test positive.” Aight?
“We were that far, even to the point where the people in the federal government, Dr. [Anthony] Fauci and the people who work for him told us if you get this you will get it in seven days. OK? That’s the science. Aight? So you will likely get it within five days, but a maximum of seven days.
“So we can test guys in five, six and seven [days] and have them come back in eight days and we will have them quarantined for 14 days. So you really need to quarantine if you don’t have it – just because you’re with someone – for longer than if you get it. You are traveling longer and may not even get sick.
“We should use science to keep people safe, but when we have science that checks what is safe, we should use it.”
The requirements of the SEC’s Working Group on Medical Advice for COVID-19, last revised Nov. 3, call for a 14-day quarantine period for all athletes who have been in close close contact for more than 15 minutes – defined as within six feet an infected person. The requirements, which were first published in August, cite “current national guidelines” for enforcing the 14-day quarantine, adding that negative tests do not shorten the quarantine period.
For a confirmed infection with COVID-19, the SEC guidelines require an isolation period of at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms or a positive test.
Mike Rodak is an Alabama Beat Reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.
