WILL COVID RESTRICTIONS TIGHTEN HERE?
Governor’s latest orders not clear on college sports
Three thoughts on San Diego State’s 83-42 win against NAIA Saint Katherine on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena:
1. Lockdowns
The Aztecs don’t play again until Sunday afternoon at home against Pepperdine.
Will they?
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a new stay-at-home order for regions where hospital ICU capacity exceeds 85 percent, and Southern California appears headed that way. Once triggered, the more restrictive lockdown would last at least three weeks and close or severely limit many businesses that are currently open.
What that means for college sports is less clear, with a carve-out that specifically references professional sports but not amateurs. The state has separated the two in previous guidances, issuing them for pro sports weeks before it got around to the colleges last summer and later opening the door for limited spectators at pro events but not college.
In this case, however, college sports might be OK — the operative word, of
course, being might — and SDSU is proceeding as if it is.
Among the exemptions for Newsom’s stay-at-home order is this: “Entertainment production including professional sports: Allow operation without live audiences. Additionally, testing protocol and ‘bubbles’ are highly encouraged.”
That last line pretty much describes SDSU. Its football and basketball players are subjected to a minimum three tests per week and often more, and rarely, if ever, do they interact with the student body or general public. Aztecs basketball players and opposing teams are also tested on game days, taking the f loor only after receiving negative results. Even athletic department staffers are regularly tested; nine times in the last 12 days, according to two members of the media relations staff.
Newsom’s mandate came from the state level. But county health departments
No. 1 South Carolina women fall to No. 8 N.C. State.