Cougars avoid big COVID-19 outbreak
Athletic department reported 26 positives from July 30 to Oct. 22
The University of Houston athletic department has avoided any serious outbreaks of the novel coronavirus since temporarily halting voluntary summer workouts in June, test results provided to the Houston Chronicle show.
During a nearly three-month span from July 30 to Oct. 22, the athletic department reported 26 positive cases out of 5,453 tests administered — a positivity rate of .005 percent — for 14 varsity sports, according to data obtained through an open-records request.
The Texas attorney general’s office ruled in October the universitymust release the information to the Houston Chronicle and ESPN.
The Houston Chronicle and ESPN in late July requested test re
sults for the entire athletic department, including the number of tests administered, aswell as the number of positive and negative cases, for student-athletes, coaches and support staff for the football and men’s and women’s basketball teams.
In an Aug. 4 letter, the University of Houston’s general counsel office submitted a request for opinion from the attorney general’s office, arguing the information was protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
In the Oct. 9 ruling, the attorney general’s office said the university did not explain how the raw data consisted of protected health information and that the university “failed to demonstrate any of the submitted information is highly intimate or embarrassing to an identifiable individual and not of legitimate public concern.”
“It’s very good that the attorney general’s office ruled in favor of releasing this information,” said Kelley Shannon, executive director of the nonprofit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. “As we’ve been saying for months, the more the public knows about COVID-19 and how it spreads, the more everyone can take action to stay safe.
“It’s important to understand how our universities and other schools are coping and protecting students. Clearly, there are success stories out there. Knowing about them allows others to follow their examples. Unfortunately, sometimes governments react with a knee-jerk toward secrecy when simply revealing the truth promptly is a plus for the government and the general public.”
Chris Pezman, UH’s vice president for athletics, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
On June 12, UH became the first FBS programto suspend voluntary workouts “out of an abundance of caution” after the announcement that six student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19. Positive results came from the football (four), men’s basketball (one) and women’s basketball (one) programs and one staff member.
At the time, UH received nationwide criticism for testing only student-athletes who showed symptoms or came from areas that had a high number of positive cases.
In the immediate weeks after the shutdown, UH had 22 more positive cases — 13 within the football program
— among 1,244 tests. Four more staffers tested positive, along with three from the men’s basketball team and two from the women’s basketball team, according to test results.
After the attorney general’s ruling, the Houston Chronicle requested additional testing dates.
Since July 30, the UH football program had only four positive cases, including one before the Oct. 8 season opener against Tulane and another before the Oct. 24Navy game. The soccer program had the most positive cases during the nearly three-month time frame with six, according to data, while five staff members in unidentified sports tested positive. The two basketball programs combined for five positive cases.
In all, UH reported 55 positive COVID-19 cases out of 6,849 tests from June 13 to Oct. 22. The most recent positive test within the athletic department for the timetable the Chronicle requested was for a staff member Oct. 22.
The university did not say how many student-athletes or staff members were quarantined because of contact tracing.
Five varsity sports — swimming and diving, cross country, men’s golf, women’s tennis and baseball — did not report any positive tests in testing conducted through Oct. 22.
UH’s success in controlling the spread of COVID-19 comes at a time when cases continue to spike nationwide. The positive test rate statewide is 12.35 percent, according to information compiled by the Houston Chronicle.
Eleven FBS games have been called off this week, including four in the Southeastern Conference and Rice’s game against Louisiana Tech. UH had games canceled or postponed earlier this season because of COVID-19 issues at Memphis, North Texas and Baylor.