COVID recovery timelines will vary for returning Huskies

Since returning from the holiday break, the UConn women’s basketball team has seen four games called off because of the recent surge of COVID-19 and the omicron variant while the men’s program has lost two games.

Both programs have had multiple positive COVID cases within their programs.

But it’s not just an issue with UConn. Ten of 11 Big East men’s basketball programs and eight out of 11 women’s teams have had to shut down and/or have had games canceled within the past few weeks because of the rapid increase in the virus.

And while the CDC has lowered its recommended quarantine protocol from 10 to five days for people who are exposed to COVID, the Big East’s current policy to keep positive players quarantined for 10 days has delayed game rescheduling and resumption of play even more.

How will players bounce back from COVID as teams resume games? It may depend on how severe the symptoms.

Dr. Jordan D. Metzl MD, a sports medicine physician at Hospital for Special Surgery, told Hearst Connecticut Media Wednesday that there still are unknowns in how the virus affects college athletes. Nearly two years into the pandemic, there also are still disparities among those who test positive for COVID.

“A couple years ago in 2019, when COVID first started happening, we didn’t know anything about it. It was a brand new disease, we didn’t know how it would affect people, who it would affect, how much it would affect them,” Dr. Metzl said. “One thing became true was that even if college-aged athletes were exposed to COVID — it would be better if they wouldn’t be — that it was a different disease for them, especially over time compared to older people, who might be getting it.”

Since March 2020, it’s been reported people who regularly work out and maintain healthy lifestyles experience less severe symptoms of COVID than those who don’t.

While doctors say everyone will react differently to getting the virus, athletes have shown to be less likely to suffer severe symptoms, be hospitalized or even die from COVID.

“Your body’s immune system fights any infection you have, if it’s a flu or COVID or whatever, and the more you exercise, the younger you are, the more robust your immune system is and the better able you are to fight infection,” Dr. Metzl said.

And with the help of vaccines and boosters, Dr. Metzl said athletes who are fully vaccinated have a lesser chance of experiencing severe and ongoing symptoms.

“If you’re a college-aged athlete you have less of a risk because of your age and your activity, and then if you’re vaccinated you have a double less of risk and so we think it’s pretty safe for those people,” he said. “That being said, every disease affects different people differently.”

While we have a better understanding of how to prevent COVID and how to treat it, there are still many unknowns about the virus and how it affects certain demographics.

Dr. Metzl said despite an athlete experiencing less severe symptoms after testing positive, there’s not