UGA Head Football Coach Says Team Is Seeing Breakthrough COVID Cases
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart speaks during news conference ahead of Saturday’s SEC Championship football game Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, in Atlanta. Georgia will face LSU. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Georgia football Kirby Smart announced that “three or four” players on the second-ranked Bulldogs were recently sidelined with COVID-19.
The positive tests for Georgia come despite both programs having met the Southeastern Conference’s 85% vaccination threshold to avoid further COVID testing and masking requirements.
Georgia’s 10-3 win over then-No. 3 Clemson occurred without sports medicine director Ron Courson, who tested positive with a breakthrough case of COVID-19 and didn’t make the trip. Smart said Courson is doing well but noted that several staffers have also been out recently along with players.
Even with a vaccine in place compared to last fall and other safeguards in place, risks and concerns remain.
“That concerns you not only for the players on your team that are unvaccinated, that are playing and not playing because we want everybody to be safe,” Coach Smart said.
“But it concerns me for the players that are vaccinated. That we could lose them. It’s at the highest it’s been since fall camp right now. I think there is this relief that everyone feels like everything is back to normal. Just not for us right now.”
The Atlantic Coast Conference has a similar vaccination 85% threshold, in which schools meeting it only have to test once weekly as opposed to three times for programs that fall below it. Other schools, state and local protocols still must be followed.
Guidelines for spectators are less stricter this season after last fall’s protocols that held attendance far below capacity at many football-mad venues. No. 13 Florida rolled FAU 35-14 on Saturday night before an announced crowd of 86,840, with only a few attendees spotted around massive Florida Field wearing masks.
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