SEC quarantine protocols could put Florida-Missouri game in jeopardy
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Florida’s rivalry matchup with LSU has been postponed to Dec. 12, but the Gators’ COVID-19 outbreak could also put their next game against Missouri in jeopardy.
UF currently has 21 players and two assistant coaches who’ve tested positive, and at least 10 more players reportedly under mandatory quarantines. Some players began showing symptoms Sunday night and two as early as last Friday, athletics director Scott Stricklin said Wednesday.
SEC protocols call for at least 10 days of isolation for individuals who test positive and 14 days quarantined for those with high-risk exposure through contact tracing. The Gators currently have less than 50 scholarship players available, some of whom will still be out on Oct. 24.
Stricklin didn’t offer a timeline on when a decision will be made on the Mizzou game.
“It’s hard to speculate right now,” he said. “Obviously we’ll be in communication with the Southeastern Conference and probably get Missouri, obviously as our next opponent, to kind of keep them abreast of what we’re seeing.
“We’ll continue our regular testing protocol for those who aren’t in quarantine, and hopefully we don’t have any more positives and we’re able to get on the other side of this. Then we can get everyone back in a situation where you can go compete again.”
The team was tested on Sunday morning following the trip to Texas A&M, which Stricklin suspects was the root of the outbreak. He said two players who tested positive Sunday revealed after the fact that they had symptoms on Friday — one a runny nose and the other a headache — but thought they were “allergies.”
“In a COVID environment, it’s so important that we are hypersensitive to being diligent on that front,” Stricklin said. “I don’t know that this was a situation where someone goes, ‘I don’t feel well, but I’m going to power through it.’ I think this is a situation where someone felt like, ‘I’ve got a sniffle. I need a Kleenex, and I’m ready to play a game.’”
Stricklin received a call Monday morning from associate athletic director of sports health Paul Silvestri, who told him he was concerned “we may have something going on” after a number of players reported symptoms Sunday night of headache, fatigue and a scratchy throat.
The team meeting at 8 a.m. Monday was canceled as they awaited Sunday’s testing results, which revealed five new positive cases. Florida did another round of testing on Monday and those results came back Tuesday, showing 19 positives and forcing the program to pause all football activities.
Stricklin was asked if he regrets the team practicing Monday.
“I can’t answer that question. I really don’t have enough information. At the time, our medical staff was making a decision based on what they knew, and they had quarantined a tremendous amount of individuals,” Stricklin said.
“Fortunately we don't have anybody who’s really sick from a symptom standpoint. But we want to make sure we take care of those individuals, we take care of those who are currently testing negative and make sure that they continue to stay safe.”
Stricklin said UF will continue daily COVID-19 testing until it has a handle on the spread. If the Gators still have too many players under SEC quarantine protocols next week, they could face this same predicament for the Missouri game.
“This isn’t the first sporting event that we’ve had canceled this fall,” Stricklin said of Florida-LSU. “Our soccer team, their first match got postponed because of a quarantine issue.
“I'm sure we'll have other postponements, and we’ll manage it and we’ll move on. The important thing is we continue to engage our athletes on campus and give them an opportunity to compete.”