ARKADELPHIA -- Seven student-athletes at Henderson State University tested positive for COVID-19, according to athletic director Shawn Jones.
Jones said that the university tested a total of 135 student-athletes on Monday.
"We brought them in on Sunday," Jones said. "(We) put them in individual rooms, brought them food, tested them at 7:30 on Monday morning, and then by 7:30 on Tuesday morning we had the results. So they were all quarantined upon arrival. And then once we got the results -- obviously we have the seven positives and worked to quarantine them additionally and set up an additional test for them because, as I'm sure you've read, you always want to make sure the validity is as strong as it can be in these tests. And so we've done that. That's taken place for those that are still here."
An email from HSU acting president and general counsel Elaine Kneebone Tuesday evening to the campus community announcing the seven positive results was obtained by The Sentinel-Record through a Freedom of Information Act request.
"The seven student-athletes who tested positive are in quarantine until they complete Center for Disease Control and Prevention protocols," the email said. "All athletes were confined to individual rooms upon arrival to campus on Sunday, pending COVID-19 testing. Henderson State Athletics tested head coaches, assistant coaches and administrative staff who could potentially come into contact with student-athletes and received no positive results."
Kneebone said in the email that HSU will be implementing "a daily screening questionnaire for students, faculty, and staff to assess wellness and provide assistance where needed."
David Salley, HSU sports information director, said that while he could not say what sport the athletes compete in, he did explain that the university just started voluntary workouts.
"From what I understand, just now for everyone is when students are allowed to come back according to NCAA rules," he said. "We tested as quick as we possibly could."
Student-athletes who live off-campus with one of those who tested positive "are now required to undergo a two-week quarantine period as well," he noted. "Entire teams are not being quarantined, but roommates of those who have tested positive are."
Jones said that while many schools across the country are screening athletes, he feels that more is needed.
"I'm really proud of the fact that we are testing all of our student-athletes because I think it's the right thing to do," Jones said. "We're making sure that we're putting their health and safety at the front of everything we do, and not only theirs but those who they'll come in contact with.
"I know there are a lot of places that are just screening kids every day but not testing. ... And if you're not testing, that means you've got seven kids on average, if you have that number of folks, who are running around various places not being quarantined coming into contact with other people, and potentially spreading the virus."
Prior to any workouts, student-athleteshave their temperatures taken and are screened according to the guidelines from Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas Department of Health.
"You cannot enter a facility without a mask," Jones said. "You cannot enter a facility without answering some basic questions. The basic questions are: Since your last screening and you had a fever of 100.4 or greater? Have you had fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, unexplained fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting or diarrhea? And if the answer to any of those questions is yes, then you go home and quarantine. And then we would start the process over again."
Jones said that the entry and exit process is also streamlined with a single door for entry and a single door for exit.
"They have to line up outside to come in at least 6-foot intervals," he said. "We space it out a little more than that. Temperatures are taken and recorded, then based on what their voluntary workout piece is -- if they're going to the field to do running on their own or whatever -- then they can go do that. That's all planned out as far as the numbers that can be there at any one time and then the same thing in the weight room. The capacity is much, much smaller than normal as far as numbers."
With the prevalence of coronavirus still high across the country, the athletic department decided earlier this summer to require the testing of all the athletes, coaches and support staff.
"I understand people have different thoughts on that, and that's I think what we're seeing nationally on every level," Jones explained. "Each institution, each league, each state, each region, all view it a little bit differently, so how we test may be different than how another school tests. Some schools may not test; they may just screen. ... We just decided we're going to test all of our kids in order to bring them back onto campus, and that's just the determination we made.
"Some have; some haven't. And it's interesting because that transcends levels. There are Power Five schools doing it just like us, and there are Power Five schools who are just screening and not testing. So I think it depends on, maybe, the folks that are there and their medical opinions, and I don't know that any of them are wrong. It's just this is what we landed on, and we thought it was the safest and best thing we could do for our kids and those who are working with them and around them."