Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly vows to bolster COVID-19 protocols after linking 'wildfire' 18-infection outbreak to a pregame meal and one player vomiting on the sidelines
Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly has vowed to change the team's coronavirus protocols after a recent team dinner resulted in 18 positive tests, 39 players in isolation or quarantine, and a game postponement.
Kelly told ESPN on Tuesday that doctors linked the outbreak to a team meal before the September 19 game against South Florida, as well as a Fighting Irish player vomiting on the sidelines that day.
Notre Dame (2-0) was scheduled to travel to Wake Forest (0-2) on Saturday, September 26, before the game was postponed. A makeup date has yet to be announced.
Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly has vowed to change the team's coronavirus protocols after a recent team dinner resulted in 18 positive tests, 39 players in isolation or quarantine, and a game postponement. Kelly told ESPN on Tuesday that doctors linked the outbreak to a team meal before the September 19 game against South Florida, as well as a Fighting Irish player vomiting on the sidelines that day
A news release from the school issued on Monday said that over a six-day span last week, the school performed 273 tests on football players, with 18 positives. Currently the Fighting Irish have 25 players in isolation and another 14 in quarantine.
Kelly said the team ate together for the first time since the start of summer practices before the USF game -- and won't be doing so again.
'Throughout our entire time together, we had not had one meal where we sat down together,' Kelly said. 'Everything was grab and go. We get into our game situation where we have pregame meal together, and that cost us. Big. We had somebody who was asymptomatic, and it spread like wildfire throughout our meeting area where we were eating and then it got guys in contact tracing.'
Now, he told ESPN, the team will eat pregame meals in a ballroom at a convention center to allow players to stay socially distant. Furthermore, Kelly will use a microphone to talk to the players during the gathering.
Notre Dame previously paused football activities for in August following five positive tests
As for the player who became ill during the USF game, he was treated for dehydration because he didn't have signs of a concussion or other injury. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.
Notre Dame previously paused football activities for three days in August following five positive tests.
'With student-athlete health and safety our primary focus, we will continue to follow our prevention protocols and ongoing testing procedures,' Kelly said following the postponement of the Wake Forest game. 'We managed an increase in positivity rates in August, and the players handled it wonderfully.
'We have to think about giving antigen tests on the sidelines for stuff that we never thought of,' Kelly said. 'That's the kind of shifting sands in this whole thing, learning in-game what do you do, what don't you do.'
'We knew COVID would present challenges throughout the season, and we'll always put student-athlete health and safety at the forefront of our decision making. We look forward to resuming team activities and getting back on the playing field.'
Both Notre Dame and Wake Forest have an open date on October 3, which will likely be the date the postponed game will be scheduled.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has vowed to avoid team dinners again in the near future