7 Arkansas State athletes test positive for COVID-19

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - Seven Arkansas State University student-athletes have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Chancellor Kelly Damphousse.

“This is a day that we knew would come, not just at A-State,” Damphousse said in a Thursday news release.

He said that he learned of the students’ diagnoses Wednesday night.

“All seven students continue to be asymptomatic as of this writing,” he said.

The students, who are athletes across three sports, will self-isolate for 14 days.

“We are conducting contact tracing, and anyone who has been exposed to these students will be required to quarantine for 14 days,” Damphousse added.

The university will remain open, the chancellor said.

“We have established face-covering protocols for anyone who is on our campus,” Damphousse said. “It is my expectation that all will do their best to keep each other safe by following our procedures.”

For more information on A-State’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he directed them to the university’s website, and encouraged students and others to contact him via email or Pack Support.

We had the chance to chat with Vice Chancellor of Intercollegiate Athletics Terry Mohajir via zoom.

“You know, we brought them back this past Sunday,” Mohajir said. “We tested on Monday and the results came back on Wednesday. While they were here, they weren’t participating, they weren’t using the athletics facilities, the Centennial Bank Athletics Operation Center, that was shut off till they got the results back. We got those back last night, and we put into plan our protocols. We had those plans in place, and that’s why you plan.”

Arkansas State was originally scheduled to start voluntary workouts on Thursday. All the COVID-19 tests were done before any workouts could take place, facilities remained closed during testing. Here’s the updated plan for the pack.

“It’s up to them, they can start tomorrow or start Monday, it’s up to the coaches,” Mohajir added. “The environment, regardless if someone tests positive, is the same. The environment is going to be good, clean. We have a really good plan in place. Have had a lot of national people look into it. Also got a lot of ideas from national organizations to help us through it.”

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