High schools testing water polo and football players for COVID-19 received additional guidance on Wednesday, March 3 about costs and testing frequency.
California’s COVID-19 Testing Task Force announced that public schools can receive free testing through the new Valencia Branch Laboratory in Santa Clarita, and also clarified that student-athletes need to be tested only once a week even in sports such as water polo that plays multiple games in a week.
Coaches and administrators had been anxiously awaiting the update on testing, a key component to recently-issued guidelines from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) that allow high-contact, outdoor sports such as water polo and football to be played in counties that have an adjusted case rate for the virus of 14 or less per 100,000 people.
In addition, coronavirus testing is required if the county’s case rate is between 7 and 14. The county of Orange (7.6), Los Angeles (7.2), Riverside (11.3) and San Bernardino (9.0) all fell within that range Tuesday when the state released the latest metrics, which show improving health conditions.
The Valencia lab, the task force stated, processes self-administered nasal swabs within one or two days. All districts should have received an email about the onboarding process, which takes on average of two weeks, according to the task force.
“The state is committing to accelerating the onboarding process,” the task force stated in a Q&A.
Private schools also were offered instructions on how to partner with the Valencia lab.
Some water polo teams began testing last week with different labs. The abbreviated season for boys and girls started Feb. 27 and ends March 20.
Edison High athletic director Rich Boyce said the Huntington Beach Union High School District has handled the testing for his athletes and it “hasn’t been a problem.”
“Our district took care of it,” said Boyce, whose water polo and football teams will test next on Saturday, March 6.
The CIF Southern Section said this week that testing won’t be required before any football scrimmages because they’re considered “practice opportunities.”
Depending on where the case rates fall next week, testing may not be required before the first football games of the season March 11-13.
If the case rates are between 7 and 14, the new guidance states that water polo and football players, along with coaches and members of the teams’ staff, should be tested weekly with results available within 24 hours of competition.
If athletes are part of a testing program, they don’t need to test multiple times during a week, the task force clarified. Some administrators wondered if water polo players — who sometimes play a few matches in a single week — would need to test multiple times.
Some of the realities of playing amid the pandemic have started to surface through testing.
Sonora’s girls water polo team canceled its season-opening match at Buena Park on Wednesday, March 3 after a positive test within its program, Raiders athletic director Rich Lodding said. The team, he said, is following the district’s policy for a positive test and contact tracing.
“We’re trying to side on precaution for the kids,” Lodding said.
Boyce believes similar scenarios will occur but safety and perspective amid the challenges will be important. He said positive tests are “going to happen” but that doesn’t change the objective. “We’re just trying to get the kids back playing,” he said.
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