UTEP - Rice game was canceled for what turned out to be false positives

[s--k]

Not the first time this has happened. Why aren't false positives and unwarranted cancelations and postponements making more headlines?

UTEP claims 10 players who tested positive Saturday have since tested negative Bret Bloomquist
El Paso Times

Ten football players whose positive COVID tests in Houston led to the postponement against Rice have now tested negative back in El Paso, UTEP said.

Dana Dimel said Monday he felt the tests, taken at Rice's request after UTEP's arrival in Houston, might be false and UTEP athletic director Jim Senter confirmed that Monday night in a press release and Zoom press conference.

"This morning, we administered PCR tests to everyone in the travel party, except for the student-athlete who tested positive on Friday," said Senter, who added that Saturday's game with Southern Miss is still off. "The PCR test is recognized as the 'gold standard' of COVID testing.

"We have received the results, and all 10 of the individuals who tested positive with the antigen tests on Saturday tested negative today. The challenges associated with false positives with antigen tests have been widely publicized.

"The false positives we experienced illustrate the problem with antigen tests as a tool for decision making for athletics competition. We are working with our team doctors, sports medicine professionals, and campus officials to plan our return to practice and play for the football program."


Earlier Monday Dimel outlined the timeline that led to Saturday's cancellation.

Enough UTEP players who tested negative on Friday tested positive on Saturday that the Miners had to cancel the game, put the positive players on a bus and return to El Paso.

Every player who tested positive on Saturday tested negative on Wednesday in El Paso at the testing facility UTEP has used all season with few positive results. Rice is the only UTEP opponent that asks visiting teams to test the day before the game in Houston.

"There was a set of tests conducted on Friday and we only had one positive," Dimel said. "Then we went and did a different form (of testing) on Saturday morning because of the urgency. And this form of testing can pick up all different strains of the virus, of any virus. So the positives we got, we're not sure if they are false positives or not.

"We couldn't take the chance at this time. We're going to get everybody back and test them the same way we've tested all year."

When Rice was preparing to start its season (the Owls didn't play a game until Oct. 24), they asked visiting teams to submit to their testing in Houston and Dimel agreed. He said that was a mistake.

"Rice said they weren't going to play anybody unless they tested in Houston," Dimel said. "We were so anxious to play I agreed to it. As we got closer, there are a lot of disadvantages to doing it, and every disadvantage to it show up to our football team on Saturday.

"Every reason you don't do it showed it on Saturday. ... Those are decisions I should have done a better job of than what I did."

Dimel said he was referring to the possibility of false positives, as well as the fact that if the positives were correct, those players had been on an airplane to Houston with the rest of the team before they found out.

UTEP still hasn't set a timeline to return to practice, it could come after another round of testing on Thursday.

He is still optimistic UTEP will be able to play Dec. 12 against North Texas.

"I think we'll be ready to play, I'm hoping that," he said. "You don't know how many new positives you're going to have. We've stayed relatively healthy at the testing site we use. If we continue to maintain that I have every confidence we'll be able to play the game."

UTEP claims 10 players who tested positive Saturday have since tested negative

Dimel regrets agreeing to COVID testing in Houston

www.elpasotimes.com

 

[pressitup]

Not the first time this has happened. Why aren't false positives and unwarranted cancelations and postponements making more headlines?

UTEP claims 10 players who tested positive Saturday have since tested negative

Dimel regrets agreeing to COVID testing in Houston

www.elpasotimes.com

Houston to El Paso by bus. 10-11 hrs. close to 750 mi.
That's some torture for a false positive.

 

[Johnnyonthespot]

Asymptomatic spreaders is impossible.

Contact tracing is government surveillance for the common cold.

Evil is all around us.

 

[s--k]

Came across a Pittsburgh Post Gazzette story 11/18 where Jame Franklin said they have had 43 false positive results.

Remember the Georgia State - Charlotte game was canceled for what turned out to be false positives. Stanford's starting QB and WR missed their first game due to a false positive.

This seems very under reported. I have to believe that more of our canceled games and player absences are the result of false positive results.

 

[B.A.R.]

Came across a Pittsburgh Post Gazzette story 11/18 where Jame Franklin said they have had 43 false positive results.

Remember the Georgia State - Charlotte game was canceled for what turned out to be false positives. Stanford's starting QB and WR missed their first game due to a false positive.

This seems very under reported. I have to believe that more of our canceled games and player absences are the result of false positive results.

The quick tests (antigen?) are not as accurate and will produce many false positives.

That's why they do the nasal swab after...for confirmation. An example...it took several days to confirm Mertz. On the flip side, this is how Saban was back on the sidelines the same week for a game.

 

[s--k]

Yes it's the antigen tests. Some of the leagues are only testing 3 times a week. Testing everyday is not something every team can afford. So you have a player test positive on the antigen test, maybe they can schedule the PCR test the next day and then they have to wait for those results, meanwhile the domino effect of quarantining that player, the contact tracing the appropriate players, the missed practice time, potentially the missed game time all until the next test result they can get to see if is confirmed.

It's 2020. And we have football. I don't want to complain about the process. I can't imagine how incredibly frustrating it must be for these coaches and players and it must be very tiresome, especially if team isn't getting the feel good results on the field. I do want to complain about all the doom and gloom reporting about how many cases on teams and how many players are out and how many games are impacted, but funny how the realization of false positives isn't reported in the same fashion.