From Inside the Red Raiders
Less than a few days into the process of Oklahoma State football players returning to campus, the operation has stalled. Incoming freshmen were told not to report to campus this week after a handful of players tested positive for COVID-19, a source confirmed to GoPokes.com. Another source has indicated the staff is not at the stadium Wednesday.
Oklahoma State Senior Associate Athletic Director Kevin Klintworth tweeted Wednesday that over 150 staff, administration and student-athletes have been tested. Three student-athlete tests resulted in asymptomatic positives.
“Positives were expected and the plan for that scenario has been activated,” Klintworth said in his tweet. “We will be as forthcoming as possible on the covid issues.”
Cowboys senior linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga announced via Twitter Tuesday that his test came back positive after attending a protest in Tulsa this weekend.
Ogbongbemiga, a linebacker from Canada, had a breakout season in 2019 for Oklahoma State recording 100 total tackles, including a team-high 15.5 tackles for loss with five sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery as a junior in 2019. In his first two seasons of action, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker had a combined 28 total tackles in his first two seasons with the Cowboys.
Here is the complete list of protocol from the Oklahoma State safe plan for when a student-athlete tests positive:
- If a student-athlete, coach or support staff member tests positive for COVID-19, they will enter the quarantine protocol per medical, local/state health department and university guidelines and will begin to receive the appropriate monitoring and treatment from the team physician, athletic training staff and any other medical consultants.
- The positive student-athlete will be moved to separate housing designated by OSU for quarantine purposes.
- Appropriate contact tracing as per local/state health department and university guidelines will begin and all that have been in contact will be instructed to quarantine and have symptoms monitored for a period determined by health and medical officials. Contact tracing will begin with the student-athlete’s cohort/workout group.
- After the determined quarantine time, if the traced contact group is not showing symptoms, they will be retested for COVID-19 prior to resuming activities. Upon receiving a negative test, they will await specific instructions from the team physician and/or the athletic training staff regarding a return to activities.
- Upon recognition of symptomatic student-athletes and/or staff in the west end zone facility, the person will immediately be referred and directed to OSU University Health Services (or Stillwater Medical Center if after working hours) for evaluation, testing and treatment.
- If needed, transportation to University Health Services or Stillwater Medical Center for symptomatic student-athletes will be provided from athletic training staff wearing appropriate personal protective equipment.
Members of the football staff began coronavirus testing Friday. No positive cases were reported from the staff.
