SEC modifies COVID-19 testing regimen, replacing Friday antigen test with Thursday PCR test

By Reed Darcey

September 23, 2020

FILE – In this Dec. 5, 2014, file photo, the SEC logo is displayed on the field ahead of the Southeastern Conference championship football game between Alabama and Missouri in Atlanta. The Southeastern Conference will play only league games in 2020 to deal with potential COVID-19 disruptions, a decision that pushes major college football closer to a siloed regular season in which none of the power conferences cross paths(AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

The Southeastern Conference has modified its COVID-19 testing regimen for its “high-risk” sports, a leader of LSU football’s return-to-play protocols told The Reveille.
Shelly Mullenix, senior associate AD of health and wellness, said the SEC is replacing its weekly antigen test with another PCR test. Athletes in high-risk sports will now receive a PCR test three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The SEC previously planned to test its players during game weeks with a PCR test on Sundays and Wednesdays and with an antigen test on Fridays. Mullenix said that the team is receiving test results in 24-48 hours. She declined to comment on the team’s current number of positive cases.
A PCR test, or a polymerase chain reaction test, is a molecular test and one of two types of diagnostic COVID-19 tests. The other kind, an antigen test, is faster and cheaper than the traditional PCR, but significantly less accurate, the FDA says. The FDA says that antigen tests do not definitely rule out active coronavirus infections. If a patient has COVID-19 symptoms but registers a negative antigen test, health care providers will likely order a follow-up PCR test. Positive results from an antigen test, however, are usually highly accurate, according to the FDA.
The SEC announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with PAE to provide COVID-19 testing for in-season sports this fall across all 14 campuses.
“The SEC is committed to the health of its student athletes, coaches, officials and all others around our athletics events, and it is clear that testing is a critical element of maintaining a healthy environment for competition,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a press release. “For 65 years, PAE has tackled some of the world’s toughest challenges and has delivered effective solutions. This agreement represents a commitment on the part of the 14 universities of the SEC to deliver an effective solution in challenging times.”
Mullenix said PAE will process tests at an independent lab not associated with a local hospital network.
“This will help to alleviate any extra strain that the additional testing could put on a community,” she wrote in an email.