Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

March 8, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Intercollegiate Athletics Not Fully Mitigated with Daily Antigen Testing

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  • [Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Two SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks occurred among US university athletic programs during the fall 2020 despite mandatory directly observed daily antigen testing, suggesting that antigen testing alone may not be sufficient to prevent outbreaks in congregate settings. In the first outbreak, 32 confirmed cases occurred within an athletics program after the index patient attended a meeting while infectious, despite receiving a negative antigen test that day. 24 (92%) of 26 isolates from this outbreak were closely related, suggesting sustained transmission following an initial introduction event. In the second outbreak, 12 cases occurred among athletes who competed from two universities despite athletes receiving negative antigen test results on the day of the competition. Sequences from both teams were closely related and unique from strains circulating in the community, suggesting transmission during competition.

Moreno et al. (Mar 6, 2021). SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Intercollegiate Athletics Not Fully Mitigated with Daily Antigen Testing. Pre-print downloaded Mar 8 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.03.21252838