49ers get clearance to begin training camp in Santa Clara

Santa Clara County public health officials have given the 49ers the green light to start their training camp as scheduled at their practice facility, including Thursday’s rookie report date, team sources confirmed. The rest of the team is scheduled to report next week.

The practices, once they begin, will naturally look much different, beginning with players and coaches wearing masks to adhere to the state’s COVID-19 protocols.

Mandatory testing for COVID-19 will be the extent of the 49ers’ scheduled activities Thursday as just about one third of the team — rookies, quarterbacks and any players rehabbing from injuries — will be on hand for testing. Players then must return home or to the team hotel to self-isolate and meet virtually with coaches before coming back for an additional test on Sunday. Those who receive two negative test results can then return for workouts on Monday.

The rest of the 49ers’ veterans will report to the large trailer in the Levi’s Stadium parking lot for their first of two coronavirus tests on Tuesday. The vets will then isolate for two days, take another test on July 31 and, if both are negative, return to camp on Aug. 1.

49ers players may quickly grow tired of having cotton swabs inserted deep into their noses since daily tests will be administered over the first two weeks. Then testing will shift to an every-other-day basis should less than 5 percent of the team’s tests return positive, the NFL Network reported.

County health officials’ concerns about whether the amount of COVID-19 tests for 49ers players and staff would impact the community were assuaged, according to NBC Sports Bay Area. All tests for the 49ers and the NFL’s other 31 teams will be handled by New Jersey-based BioReference Laboratories.

Although Thursday marks the first day of camp, there’s still no word when the team can start official on-field workouts in Santa Clara. It’s likely, though, practices will start sometime in early August.

The 49ers will be in Santa Clara for the next six weeks — with no preseason games this year — to prepare for the season opener at Levis’ Stadium against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Sept. 13.

No fans are allowed at training camp and 49ers season ticket holders have already been warned by the team that there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to attend games this season. California’s Resilience Roadmap shows fans can be in attendance at sporting events once the state enters Stage 4 of its reopening.

Given the state’s spiking coronavirus cases, that stage seems pretty unattainable for some time.