San Jose State seeking a ‘bubble’ setting in Arcata

A San Jose State University official defended the school’s decision to send its football team more than 300 miles north to skirt Santa Clara County coronavirus rules.

The Spartans loaded up on buses Friday morning bound for Humboldt State University in Arcata, as evidenced by a video shared on the football team’s Twitter account.

A spokesperson for San Jose State said via email Friday afternoon that SJSU “is planning to create a bubble to promote safety,” pointing to the NBA, WNBA and NHL’s successfully insulated communities.

But teams in those leagues did not face competition from outside their bubbles.

Kenneth Mashinchi, SJSU’s media relations director, said school president Mary Papazian “consulted broadly before approving the recommendation to move the football program to Humboldt State University.”

When reached by this news organization Thursday, Humboldt County health officials said they were not consulted in the decision to move the team north.

Heat her Mul ler, a spokeswoman for Humboldt County’s COVID-19 Emergency Operations Center, said Friday she wished Humboldt State officials had brought public health officers into the process earlier. Neither school has explained why Humboldt County health officials were not involved until Wednesday.

When asked about failing to consult Humboldt County health officials, Mashinchi said Humboldt State “did inform” the county health office, but health officials reiterated Friday that they didn’t hear of the plan until the day it was announced.

Since the relocation announcement Wednesday, Muller said the parties have held a number of conversations about the best way to help keep students, staff and the community safe.

Muller endorsed San Jose State’s use of PCR ( polymerase chain reaction) testing to track the health of the Spartans’ contingent.

“PCR testing is effective, reliable and recommended by the state,” she said. “Results times are slower, but it has been requested by Humboldt County Health

Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich, and HSU has informed us that they are honoring that request.”

New state guidelines will allow for full 11-on-11 contact practices if teams are testing players daily. Teams of up to 75 are cleared to practice outdoors under those testing parameters, though the state suggests breaking into cohorts of 25 or fewer. Previous rules limited such groups to 12 if they were coming into close contact with one another.

Local health offices have the ability to impose more stringent requirements based on spread in their own communities, or inspect and approve programs to practice within their borders based on protocols they have in place.

San Jose State said in its announcement about moving operations that it would test players and staff before departure for Arcata and once per week thereafter. The Mountain West plans to administer antigen tests three times per week. Both plans would appear to be short of the state’s guidelines. Mashinchi noted that the school is reviewing its testing protocol to align with state guidelines and regulations enacted by both counties.

Humboldt State’s campus is clear of students as classes have gone online this fall during the pandemic. The SJSU football team had been going through with non-contact training in San Jose before heading north Friday.

SJSU is still scheduled to open its season Oct. 24 with a home game against Air Force, but it’s not clear which county they’ll call home that day.