Georgia covid outbreak not limited to just J.T. Daniels
From Georgia 247 board:
"We’re told that there are multiple other positive tests and there has been at least one false positive. Also hear that a few staffers are dealing with it. I know the rumors are running rampant about outbreaks but as of right now, trusted contacts don’t view it as severe. That could change rapidly, though."
https://247sports.com/college/georgia/board/19/Contents/pm-update-178926784/?page=1
December 22nd, 2021 at 4:19 AM ^
I mean the idea that just one member of a team would get it was unlikely to begin with, but if it’s omicron - which is likely considering it’s making up over 70% of all new cases - then there’s basically no chance you’d have a random, single case.
This really sucks. Can’t a guy just watch his favorite team continue their best season in 20+ years without this. F U covid.
December 22nd, 2021 at 4:32 AM ^
1) Isn't there enough time for Georgia to be able to play?
2) Isn't the rule this year that a team has to forfeit due to covid if it makes a scheduled game unplayable?
December 22nd, 2021 at 4:56 AM ^
Sure, there's enough time for Georgia to be able to play--even JT Daniels if he can test negative before the game (which is definitely possible, as he'll have at least 10 days to clear being infectious--it usually takes about 5). But the issue (for any team) is that if you have one case, you likely have others. The timing of the outbreak is important.
Heck, to just pick one example, the KC Chiefs currently have almost 1/3 of their entire roster (16 players) on the COVID list, including Travis Kelce and Tyreke Hill. Their game against the Steelers this Sunday is most definitely screwed and will be moved (at a minimum). The way this variant works, you have one case in a large group of people, you for sure have many more.
As far as rules, I am sure those are all out the window, a la OSU getting a pass into the B1G Conference Championship game last year. ESPN, Disney, and Orange Bowl committee aren't going to move this game if there are "just" a few players on each team out. But if there are dozens on the COVID list? I'm sure all options are open to get this game played, at some point. These bowl games are ultimately about money, not competition, and you only get the money if the game is played (i.e., no forfeits).
December 22nd, 2021 at 9:51 AM ^
People can produce false positives 6-9 months after getting COVID
December 22nd, 2021 at 5:14 PM ^
They can also produce false negatives and, to my knowledge, two negative tests must be produced before a player can be cleared
December 22nd, 2021 at 10:08 AM ^
Here's the problem. Orange Bowl festivities and events start this weekend. Are the Michigan players going to be able to avoid being around Georgia players, even if Michigan has no outbreak at this time?
December 22nd, 2021 at 4:58 AM ^
I hope not. I wouldn’t want either team, obviously, to go down like that.
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:28 AM ^
Regarding #2, that was a B1G rule for conference games, not an NCAA rule. It was established to encourage teams to take all necessary Covid precautions (including vaccinations). Given how rampant Omicron seems to spread, and how it evades vaccines , I wonder if that rule will continue for winter sports, or if it will be modified.
December 22nd, 2021 at 9:07 AM ^
Oh, this is an NCAA rule? Oh thank goodness! For important decisions, I prefer to have an impartial decision maker who looks at the welfare of the players and good of the sport.
{welp}
December 22nd, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
I'd trust the NCAA over the Big Ten. The Big Ten might have an incentive to see a certain team win and advance to the playoff. The NCAA really doesn't.
December 22nd, 2021 at 9:29 AM ^
I can't possibly fathom a world where the game is completely scrapped and forfeit. Delayed? Sure. But there is way, way too much money on the line for this game to not happen. Also, can you imagine the uproar from both programs if the game was cancelled? You can't tell me that both Michigan and Georgia wouldn't rain absolute hellfire down on the decision-maker if that game was cancelled.
These guys all want to play.
December 22nd, 2021 at 9:37 AM ^
You are grossly overestimating how angry either team would be about winning by forfeit. There would still be another game to play.
December 22nd, 2021 at 6:55 AM ^
In a really sick way, it almost makes sense. Michigan finally breaks through only to get dong punched anyway by something the team has zero control over. Seems fitting for the clown timeline we have been on since 2015-2016.
December 22nd, 2021 at 8:29 AM ^
I think if, as seems quite possible, a playoff team has enough cases to severely disadvantage them or not be able to field a team, the game(s) will just be slightly delayed.
There is too much money involved for them to just not play the games. Yes, it would really suck for tons of logistical reasons, esp for folks planning to attend in person, but I think we still get the games.
December 22nd, 2021 at 4:38 AM ^
Apparently there's not a way to cheat with COVID testing. (Otherwise, the S-E-C would've found a way.)
December 22nd, 2021 at 6:45 AM ^
Oh oh. Don't challenge them like that. If anyone can find a way to cheat with the covid test, it's tge SEC.
December 22nd, 2021 at 6:45 AM ^
Sounds to me like they have. I am guessing everyone on the team tests positive in the next couple days and then has 5-7 days to clear protocol just in time for the game. Meanwhile our guys will probably come back from time with family over the holiday to an outbreak and all be out for the game.
December 22nd, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
Then they'd have to practice in secret or they won't be as prepared.
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:10 AM ^
I’m sure there’s a couple of subjects wandering around Athens and Tuscaloosa whose noses are raw from being swabbed a hundred times.
December 22nd, 2021 at 8:26 AM ^
"If" games are allowed to be rescheduled, Georgia could fake more covid test positives so they don't have key players out from the game or even practice in the lead up once the semifinal is pushed back.
December 22nd, 2021 at 4:44 AM ^
"Could change rapidly, though." You think, Mr. Trusted Contact?
The whole friggin concern with the omicron variant is that is spreads much faster, as shown by the NHL canceling over 50 games, over 2 dozen college basketball games cancelled yesterday, NFL moving multiple games & even then Garret Gilbert is signed off the street to start for Washington, etc. There is zero chance Georgia's cases are limited to just JT Daniels.
As noted in an earlier post, the Michigan team is getting their booster Wednesday (today). To be blunt, I am stunned it took this long; someone royally screwed up. For practical purposes, it is almost too late for infection control, as it takes at least a week (and really two) for the booster to make an impact on infection rates. That means essentially the entire time before kickoff on December 31, Michigan left itself without easily available extra protection against an outbreak.
Michigan (and any other team, for that matter) should have scheduled boosters within the first week after the last regular season game. UM should have gotten this done two weeks ago.
Even with the booster, an outbreak is possible, though less likely. Why wouldn't UM have given itself the best chance possible to make sure all players make this playoff game?
Hopefully, Michigan's luck will hold, but I have a bad feeling about the prospects for this game not at least having multiple players out, based on all this. Crap.
December 22nd, 2021 at 5:06 AM ^
My nurse sister was 22 days boosted wearing all the PPE one could wear and tested positive this week. She’s literally a lonely cat woman who goes home to no husband or kids and surely doesn’t go out for drinks after work. This is the 3rd time she’s gotten it. Meanwhile my chain smoking ex brother in law with pre existing issues and refuses the vax ends up being fine while pounding back Busch lights at the moose lodge every night. Just doesn’t make since.
December 22nd, 2021 at 6:12 AM ^
I had my booster 2+ weeks before the B1G Championship and still caught it down in Indy that weekend. The good news is that it felt more like a hangover than an illness. I just had headaches and felt dehydrated even though I was drinking about two powerade zeros an hour. I wouldn't have even known I had it if my brother (who went to Indy with me) hadn't tested positive and contacted me and told me I needed to get tested.
December 22nd, 2021 at 10:26 AM ^
That's the key to understanding these vaccines. No one has ever claimed that you can't catch Covid again - you absolutely can. All the vaccines are about is really cutting down - bigtime - on the number of hospitalizations and deaths. That's all I was after with my 2 Pfizer and eventually the booster. It's getting scary in my area as we recorded a record number of cases yesterday since the beginning of this nasty thing. Medical personel are now pleading for people to get vaccinated as they are on OVERLOAD.
The part I really don't understand anymore are the people that are still hanging on to the theory that the vaccine is still a conspiracy including a friend who I use to golf with 15 to 20 times a year. I said use to as he passed away from Covid earlier in the year. The first thing his surviving wife did was get her Moderna vaccine.
December 22nd, 2021 at 12:07 PM ^
The vaccine seems to have no effect on reducing infection with the Omicron variant. Omicron is far more infectious and also far less severe. As far as vaccines not stopping outbreaks, the CDC redefined what a vaccine is after it was clear the Covid vaccine didn't stop the spread but reduced the symptoms. Prior to that, the CDC stated that a vaccination was the act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease. Immunity has now been switched to protection, which is more in line with what a therapeutic vaccine does. The reason they used to be distinguished as different is so people didn't get the wrong impression that a therapeutic vaccine would prevent sickness and spread.
December 22nd, 2021 at 12:13 PM ^
"Not take the booster? No way the last time I did that I hade to take a penalty stroke."
December 22nd, 2021 at 12:39 PM ^
"The good news is that it felt more like a hangover than an illness."
Hey thanks for that insight! Now I can let my wife know that I had COVID instead of drinking way too much during and after the B1G Championship game!
It might get me out of the doghouse I have been in since then....
December 22nd, 2021 at 6:45 AM ^
It may not make sense, but good for him! At least someone you know is experiencing some good luck. Hopefully some of his luck rubs off on your awesome sister.
December 22nd, 2021 at 6:50 AM ^
Sounds like we were taking the wrong kind of light internally--should have been a Busch light.
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:13 AM ^
Well if a beer a day keeps the Dr away this Fukers gonna live to be a 100. No shit the guy has a pacemaker and collects disability.
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:53 AM ^
Don't underestimate the role of cats in the transmission of COVID.
As for the booster, I sure hope we have a few on the team who sought this out on their own. My daughter is a college athlete and went to CVS to get the booster on her own weeks ago as she doesn't want to f up her upcoming season.
December 22nd, 2021 at 8:20 AM ^
"...chain smoking ex brother in law with pre existing issues and refuses the vax..."
Sounds like this guy isn't smart enough (or doesn't care enough) to be tested in any case. He's probably had it, considered it a common cold, and continued on his merry way, indifferent to the rest of the world.
December 22nd, 2021 at 8:33 AM ^
Pretty much nailed it.
December 22nd, 2021 at 9:10 AM ^
Meanwhile my chain smoking ex brother in law with pre existing issues and refuses the vax ends up being fine
There has been research into the so-called "smoker's paradox" prompted by some evidence that cigarette smoke can inhibit the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter cells.
Obviously no responsible health professional would ever recommend smoking to combat COVID, but it's an interesting research topic.
December 22nd, 2021 at 9:59 AM ^
Does smoking pot work as well? Asking for a friend.
December 22nd, 2021 at 9:19 AM ^
Your ex-brother-in-law has probably had it and just didn't realize it or didn't get tested. Many of us have had other viruses and had no idea and didn't get tested for them.
December 22nd, 2021 at 9:28 AM ^
She's a hero, please give her our love.
December 22nd, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
We've been worrying about it as an airborne illness. I wonder if this iteration is also passed via surfaces. Could help to explain why people who are vaxxed and masked are getting it anyway.
December 22nd, 2021 at 11:18 AM ^
Every thread has this gorram story.
I’m sure it happens, but it rankles because we’re having a hard enough time getting the QAnons to vaccinate and wear PPE without this anecdote popping up everywhere. We just got a game cancelled FFS.
The countermeasures work holistically (if you’re the rare exception it just means you’re an anomaly) and omicron is as contagious as fucking measles. Read the room, please.
December 22nd, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
unless she’s a virtual nurse, I’m gonna guess the nurse part is about the highest risk factor you could imagine for coming into contact with covid
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:51 AM ^
To be blunt, I am stunned it took this long;
I agree. It's a major miscalculation by those responsible for such decisions.
December 22nd, 2021 at 8:41 AM ^
I am actually surprised that booster scheduling was something that happened at the team level. Assuming all the players got their second dose around the same time, I would imagine that a lot of the guys on the team knew they were eligible for the booster earlier than now and had families, friends or doctors who probably told them that they should get it as soon as possible. I really hope the team wasn’t telling guys to wait to do it all at once. Either way, seems like kind of a big screwup.
December 22nd, 2021 at 6:37 AM ^
If Michigan stays healthy they deserve to win anyway. No one actually thought only JT Daniels would test positive.
December 22nd, 2021 at 6:50 AM ^
Just bear in mind that the likelihood of an outbreak for Michigan (and Cinci and Bama) are all really really high right now. I'd be surprised actually if any team makes it to NYE unscathed.
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:14 AM ^
Yeah I feel the same way about this. I’m sadly preparing to be disappointed at this point.
December 22nd, 2021 at 12:00 PM ^
Totally agree. This damn thing is blowing up soooo quick right now that I'm preparing myself for a huge disappointment in the next week or two.
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:05 AM ^
Well the good news is omicron appears to be taking over and these teams are almost all entirely vaccinated so hopefully they have minimal to no symptoms and even if these games are postponed, they will be played.
I manage ~200 frontline healthcare workers across the country and pretty much 99% vaxed and we have a huge outbreak right now but it's almost all asymptomatic folks or literally "less than a normal cold". Most of ours are from proactive testing before family gatherings.
I say that because the hope is these guys are sick and they should test negative *fingers crossed* rather quickly.
I'd also wonder if policy would pivot soon? I don't know what it is now but many hospitals we work with are even saying vaccinated folks that are asymptomatic can just proceed as normal. It may not happen that quick but I have a feeling for next year protocol will change quite a bit.
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:17 AM ^
Do they even test in college if no symptoms? Genuinely curios. My company handles lots of healthcare clients and nursing homes test twice a week but can’t say for sure that hospitals do. At least my RN daughter and sister don’t.
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:31 AM ^
I was under the impression there was a lot of testing going on for these guys but frankly I do not know. If there is, I just wondered if protocols would change like in the NFL.
Oh yeah and you are right, as a company we are not making our team test we are just having a lot of our team go get tested on their own before family gatherings and email me saying "hey crap I didn't think I'd test positive but I have covid". We've had that happen with about 15% of our team the last 10 days but to your point we are not having people or forcing people to get tested
December 22nd, 2021 at 7:58 AM ^
Nope, not of you're vaccinated.
Even the contract tracing rules are different.
That's why, Bama and Ole Miss were two of the leaders with getting vaxed. The new variant wasn't around then, but they absolutely knew it would be a lot easier to take a shot or two and then, in their brains, not really have to worry about COVID again.
Because again, even if someone on their teams did get it and was symptomatic, he wasn't going to knock half the team out like he would if everyone was unvaccinated and in quarantine (10 days w/ other teammates who were contact traced) due to contact tracing while the COVID+ player was in isolation (14 days by yourself).
There was always a schematic advantage to everyone being vaccinated.