FSU's new COVID testing center could be key factor in return for football

Florida State's football players started participating in voluntary workouts earlier this week. All participating players have undergone COVID-19 testing, and strict guidelines are in place to try to make sure there's not an outbreak if a player or staff member does contract the coronavirus.

But does that mean there definitely will be college football played inside Doak Campbell Stadium this fall?

"Right now, we are planning to begin (sports) seasons on time and play a full slate of contests," FSU athletics director David Coburn told the university's Board of Trustees on Thursday. "That's right now. Whether this happens, obviously, will be determined by people far smarter than I, and at a far higher pay grade."

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It's also going to be determined by whether these voluntary football workouts continue without a spike in infections, and whether the same holds true when more students, faculty and staff begin returning to campus this summer and fall.

One very promising piece of news in that regard was shared with the Board of Trustees shortly before Coburn made his comments.

Gary Ostrander, FSU's vice president for research, updated the panel on the university's plans to open its own COVID-19 testing center in the very near future. Ostrander said a suitable facility in Innovation Park was recently acquired and is already being remodeled into a laboratory-type space.

Next week, he said, the school will begin receiving shipments of several PCR diagnostic machines, other lab equipment and reagents to be used in the testing process.

What that means is COVID tests, which currently have to be sent to other cities and states to be processed -- and often take 48 hours or longer for results -- may now be completed in the same day.

"That would allow us to test in this community, and particularly on this campus," Ostrander said. "We have two primary objectives that are guiding this. One is incredibly high accuracy -- we have to have the highest possible accuracy. So everything is set up to optimize accuracy. The second objective is we need to be able to turn around results in 8 to 24 hours."

FSU President John Thrasher said that will be the key to the university allowing students to return to campus this fall, and Coburn added that it will be equally important for a successful return of athletics.

"My opinion, based on everything I've read and understand, is that the testing lab that we will create at Florida State University is critical to being successful when we come back in the fall," Thrasher told the board. "We have to be able to test, we have to be able to trace, and we have to be able to do that in a very efficient and quick manner in order to keep any hot spots from expanding."

To illustrate the importance, Ostrander gave a hypothetical example of a student who lives in a campus dormitory waking up and feeling ill. That could be the result of a common bug or the flu, or it could be a result of too much partying ... but it also could be COVID-19. With the ability to test and receive results within hours, the university can quickly determine whether it's safe for that student to return to the dorms, or if he needs to be quarantined to prevent an outbreak.

Coburn said the Seminoles' sports programs will benefit from the same approach.

FSU has been testing football players, staff members and coaches for the past couple of weeks and will continue for a little while longer. When those baseline tests are all completed, Coburn said, they will move on to testing for men's and women's basketball, followed by fall sports soccer, volleyball and cross country.

As far as what football games could look like this fall, Coburn said all of that is still to be determined, especially when it comes to who can attend. He and his staff are working on a variety of scenarios -- everything from zero fans to 100 percent capacity.

Coburn described the contingency planning process as "very complicated."

"Student seating will be accommodated, the [Marching] Chiefs have to be accommodated, and presumably some visiting fans," he said. "Although there are discussions ongoing about that. I will tell you that it very well may be that it's not going to be possible to get into Doak Campbell this fall without a season ticket. That hasn't been decided, but that is one of the possibilities."

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