NFL clears all 77 individuals who had false-positive tests
New York Jets head coach Adam Gase looks over his team during practice at the NFL football team's training camp in Florham Park, N.J., Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
Laboratory contamination of coronavirus tests in a New Jersey facility led to 77 false positive tests among NFL players and staff over the weekend, and league officials said Monday they do not believe the situation will adversely impact plans for the upcoming season.
“On Aug. 22, BioReference Laboratories reported an elevated number of positive COVID-19 PCR test results for NFL players and personnel at multiple clubs,” the lab said in a statement issued Monday. “The NFL immediately took necessary actions to ensure the safety of the players and personnel. Our investigation indicated that these were most likely false positive results, caused by an isolated contamination during test preparation in the New Jersey laboratory.”
The company added that “all individuals impacted have been confirmed negative and informed.”
The episode sent jitters through the NFL on Saturday and Sunday, as some teams, including the Jets, had to cancel or delay practices. But Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer, believes that the episode provides “a tremendous learning opportunity for us,” and he remains confident the league’s testing procedures are strong and effective.
“We do believe that the problem has been corrected,” Sills said. “Many of our club personnel saw it as an opportunity to see in real time how we would treat these situations.”
Sills said the league “treated those [tests] as true positives, because that’s what we do as a precaution. We have to remain very vigilant and make sure we isolate those individuals and go through confirmatory steps. When in doubt, we’re always going to err on the side of keeping people out of team facilities.”
Ongoing COVID-19 testing of players and team and league personnel has been very encouraging. Sills said there were 58,397 tests administered to 8,573 players and personnel between Aug. 12 and Aug. 20, and that there were zero positive cases among the 23,260 tests administered to players. Of the 35,137 tests administered to personnel, there were six new confirmed positives.
Sills said the league and NFL Players Association will work together to determine the exact times of when players, coaches and staff will be tested before games so that a problem similar to the one over the weekend won’t delay or even potentially postpone games.
“We will go back together with the NFL to look at the timing of our tests leading up to game day,” Sill said. “We want to make sure we have the most timely test available. We’ve made some adjustments as to how these [tests] are verified. We need to put all that together and think about the safest possible protocol. Our No. 1 goal is to keep everyone safe.”
Sills remains encouraged by the NFL’s testing program and safety protocols.
“We’ve gotten through four weeks [of training camp] without any of our clubs having a major outbreak,” he said. “I think our protocols are working. The events of this weekend shouldn’t change that view.”
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
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