Sac State football player tests positive for COVID-19

13 other players were quarantined, tested negative

Hornet+Stadium+on+Oct.+6%2C+2020.+A+Sacramento+State+football+player+has+tested+for+COVID-19+causing+him+and+13+other+players+to+be+placed+in+quarantine.+Assistant+Athletic+Director+Brian+Berger+said+the+players+are+no+longer+in+quarantine.

Patrick Posuniak

Hornet Stadium on Oct. 6, 2020. A Sacramento State football player has tested for COVID-19 causing him and 13 other players to be placed in quarantine. Assistant Athletic Director Brian Berger said the players are no longer in quarantine.

Camryn Dadey, Mercy Sosa, and Allisyn Mayhew

Thirteen Sacramento State football players were quarantined after a player tested positive for COVID-19 during athletics surveillance training, according to Brian Blomster, director of news and communications at Sac State.

Blomster said the 13 athletes that interacted with the player who tested positive were quarantined have since tested negative.

Brian Berger, assistant athletic director at Sac State, said all student-athletes that had quarantined are no longer in quarantine. He also said that some students who quarantined were residents of the dorms, but was unable to specify how many.

The team has been practicing in small groups called pods to limit the risk of coronavirus exposure, as well as doing temperature checks before practice, wearing masks and social distancing. 

Multiple players on the team told The State Hornet they are not allowed to speak to the press without permission from the Athletics Department. One player, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that players are made aware when someone on the team tests positive for the coronavirus but are not told the identity of the person who tested positive due to HIPAA, a privacy law. 

Sac State reported on their coronavirus safety page that an athlete tested positive for the coronavirus during athletics surveillance training during the week of Oct. 26 to Nov. 1.

Any quarantined student-athlete must follow the health and safety guidelines put in place by the Sacramento County Public Health Department, Blomster said.

The guidelines state that anyone who has come into contact with the coronavirus should quarantine for 14 days. Those who do not show symptoms should quarantine for 10 days following their first positive test, and those who show symptoms of the virus should quarantine for at least 10 days after the onset of symptoms.

This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.

Additional reporting by Ian Edwards.