'Clinical judgments' key in college football contact tracing

A planned scrimmage at Tennessee last weekend turned into a scaled-down practice when the Volunteers were without about 35 players due to COVID-19.

Coach Jeremy Pruitt said seven or eight players were in isolation after being infected and another 28 or so had been quarantined after it was determined through contact tracing they had been exposed to the coronavirus.

“I’m really glad we’re not playing today,” Pruitt told reporters.

What remains of a college football season greatly pared down by the pandemic is about to ramp up this weekend. All summer long, college sports leaders have said they expect disruptions for the teams that have plowed ahead — and that has already been the case with about a dozen games postponed so far.

Outbreaks can leave teams unable to play, not just because they sideline the infected but also because anyone deemed a close or high-risk contact is required to quarantine for 14 days. That's where contact tracing comes in.

Contact tracing is part science and part sleuthing. Team doctors and athletic trainers are guided by local health departments and university protocols. Within conferences, medical staffs are trying to create as much consistency as possible in how to determine who plays and who sits.

Ultimately, it's a “clinical judgment," said Dr. Chris Klenck, team physician at Tennessee.

Differences in who makes those judgments and how could loom large over this season.

“It’s important to us that we all have a level playing field and that we’re all following the same protocols and procedures so that the perception that one team has an unfair advantage is minimized and that we’re all doing the same protocols and the same health and safety standards for all of our student-athletes,” Klenck told AP before Pruitt revealed...