PULLMAN, Wash. — WSU announced Thursday afternoon that the school will begin voluntary workouts on June 15th, with fall sports athletes and athletes who stayed on campus after the end of the spring semester being the first people welcomed back.
“We are fully prepared to begin the phased-in, voluntary return for our WSU Student-Athletes,” said WSU Director of Athletics Pat Chun in a press release. “This is an important step as we move towards Fall Semester and our athletics seasons. We want to thank President Schulz and our university leadership for working diligently and collaboratively throughout this entire process as we re-acclimate our student-athletes into an environment that promotes health and safety.”
WSU will require all student-athletes who return to Pullman to self-quarantine for seven days, while international student-athletes will have to self-quarantine for two weeks. They also will require all student-athletes to go through PCR and antibody testing, as well as a pre-participation physical exam.
Student-athletes and staff will be required to complete a daily symptom attestation and temperature screen prior to working out. Students will also be working out in groups of five and a safety briefing will be conducted before each training or rehabilitation session.
Chun said in his press conference on Thursday that the school began their first round of testing athletes and athletic staff on June 4th and so far they have had no positive tests. About 60 people so far have been tested.
In terms of paying for tests, he says that insurance will cover some of it but that the athletics department will have to cover some of the cost as well.
