ACC Commissioner John Swofford was asked about the medical advice with playing college football and COVID-19. He says he’s extremely pleased the medical group put together by the ACC.
“There’s a certain lack of consistency, as to what we hear from the medical profession and I think the fact that goes with that is that there are unknowns, certainly for the layman, but also for those in the medical profession,” Swofford said. “The other thing that goes with it is it shows the medical people can look at the same information and interpret it differently, and feel differently about your ability to mitigate it, in terms of playing sports and doing it safely. That’s a real part of the challenge.
“We’ve been extremely pleased with our medical group that was put together months ago with representatives from each of the 15 institutions, as well as the doctors outside of that group that they have brought in as consultants in giving advice to our presidents, to our athletic directors.”
After just a week of being back to in-person classes, North Carolina saw more than 100 new positive COVID-19 tests pop up on campus. The spread sent students back to virtual learning and in many cases sent students home, and it also made many question if football would still happen at North Carolina — and every other school with an outbreak — this fall.
But Swofford reaffirmed that those making the calls in the ACC feel that, as of now, a football season is not considered to be dangerous.
“The whole effort is aimed at answering the question, ‘Can we play safely? Can we mitigate the virus in a way that keeps our student-athletes and others around the program, involved with the competitions safe,’” Swofford said. “And therefore, is it appropriate to go forward with it? So far, our board and the ACC presidents has continued to believe that is the case.”
