Georgia State Panthers Set to Host East Carolina this coming Saturday as Scheduled
ATLANTA — The positive COVID tests that caused Georgia State to postpone Saturday’s scheduled game at Charlotte turned out to be the result of errors in reading the test results.
Georgia State was scheduled to play at Charlotte at noon at Jerry Richardson Stadium. The Panthers will return to practice on Monday to begin preparations to host East Carolina this Saturday at Center Parc Stadium at noon.
GSU student-athletes and staff tested three times last week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, with the first two rounds producing zero positive tests. The results from Thursday’s round became available Friday afternoon, just before the team’s scheduled departure, and the positive results caused Georgia State to postpone the game out of an abundance of caution.
The GSU-Charlotte game has not yet been rescheduled.
“Friday afternoon, as we were loading the buses to play a football game at Charlotte, we were informed that four individuals out of 135 had tested positive for Coronavirus from our third test in four days as part of our protocol to play. Through contract tracing, we identified 17 others, including one coach, who would require quarantining,” GSU Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb explained.
“These were our first positive test results in three weeks among our athletics programs, which since April have experienced a positivity rate of 1.7 percent,” Cobb continued. “Out of an abundance of caution for the rest of our team and Charlotte, we could not in good conscience put our team on the bus and play a game.
“As part of our protocols, we tested the individuals again Friday afternoon and were informed by our lab Friday night that none tested positive. They also retested the swabs from Thursday and all tested negative as well. It was at this point that the lab director informed our medical staff that a human error Friday morning caused the error in test results.
“The disappointing news is that we could have played on Saturday. More importantly, the positive news is we are not dealing with an outbreak at this time. We appreciate the professionalism shown by [Charlotte Director of Athletics] Mike Hill and Coach [Will] Healy throughout the past 48 hours. We look forward to hosting East Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Center Parc Stadium.”