ACC medical team chair says risks can be reduced to play football safely

Clemson has taken a number of steps in camp (Clemson athletics photo)

by TigerNet Staff - Aug 11, 2020, 12:56 PM

ACC medical advisory chairman Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease specialist at Duke, says schools can mitigate the risk of COVID-19 on a football field or training room to the point it's "no different than living as a student on campus."

Wolfe talked to Sports Business Daily recently and said he believes, although difficult, college football teams can play.

“We believe we can mitigate it down to a level that makes everyone safe,” Wolfe told the site. “Can we safely have two teams meet on the field? I would say yes. Will it be tough? Yes. Will it be expensive and hard and lots of work? For sure. But I do believe you can sufficiently mitigate the risk of bringing COVID onto the football field or into the training room at a level that’s no different than living as a student on campus.”

Wolfe said that he has told the ACC administrators that the virus isn't going away anytime soon.

“This is not Ebola,” Wolfe told the site. “It doesn’t have the lethality or the infectivity. So, certain mitigation efforts can be incredibly helpful. We’ve seen that in other countries -- sadly not in the United States -- where good infection control and good regimented management have allowed groups to co-exist with this virus really well.”

Clemson is scheduled to practice through Saturday this week and more in August and start ACC action on Sept. 12 at Wake Forest.

The ACC presidents and chancellors, per multiple reports, are expected to meet on Wednesday. The Big 12, PAC-12 and Big Ten are reportedly set to have meetings regarding the season on Tuesday (Editor's note: The Big Ten did announce a postponement to spring on Tuesday afternoon).