Q&A with Salukis’ senior woman administrator on departmental Covid policies and procedures.

CARBONDALE, Il. — Southern Illinois softball coach and senior woman administrator Kerri Blaylock is leading the department’s task force for Covid-19 testing and return to practice/competition. Working in partnership with Southern Illinois Healthcare, Saluki Athletics has processed approximately 930 Covid-19 tests to date, with five positive tests (2 asymptomatic student-athletes, 2 asymptomatic staff members, 1 symptomatic staff member) for a positivity rate of 0.05%.

Describe the gating procedure Athletics has implemented. 

“We started the process with our fall student-athletes — football, partial volleyball, and partial soccer, as well as men’s and women’s basketball. We had the five teams in gate one that were tested. In this first gate, we brought in about 50 student-athletes. As we saw evidence that the process was working properly, we added additional gates for freshman football players, and more soccer and volleyball student-athletes. Our most recent gate includes spring sports.”

What does the gating process involve?

“The student-athletes arrive on campus and start mandatory temperature checks twice a day, and if they miss a temperature check they will have start their gate over. Student-athletes also have a required COVID-19 education session where they will learn about the importance of social distancing, masking at all times, no large gatherings, and overall how to keep themselves and the community safe in a created ‘bubble.’ They will test after day five and stay quarantined until they receive their test results and complete their athletic physical to be ready for competition.”

What is the difference between isolation versus quarantine?

“Isolation is for the ones who are tested positive. Quarantines are for those who have been in close contact with those who are positive or we are trying to create the environment of quarantining before we test, to stay out of the public and risk of exposure.”

Who administers the tests and does Saluki Athletics get its tests expedited? 

“SIH [Southern Illinois Healthcare] is administering testing in an on-site, walk-up scenario. Someone from billing and a nurse will test the student-athletes that will be sent off to an outside testing company. They are now starting to do some in-house testing. Our tests are not expedited, so when it was taking longer in the community for results, it was taking longer for us to get ours back. They have been quite efficient with these tests, and we have been generally notified within 48 to 72 hours.”

What happens when someone tests positive?

“Our team physician, Dr. Jon Humphrey, will find out the test results on an online system and immediately reaches out to our director of sports medicine, myself and Jackson County Health. The director of sports medicine will then contact the athletic trainer for that team and the head coach. And Dr. Humphrey or the athletic trainers will contact the student-athlete. I will contact our athletic director and Chief Ben Newman, who is responsible for the campus response to COVID-19. Jackson County Health will identify the positive person and start all the necessary contact tracing. We have a very good plan of the protocols we should take, and Jackson County and everyone on campus has done a great job.”

How does the Athletics plan work within the framework of the overall campus plan?

“We were required to submit a plan to their EOC [Emergency Operations Committee]. They made revisions to our plan to make sure it fit the University’s plan. I think the University and Athletics have a great line of communication and can identify any positive cases, making sure we can get them isolated immediately, and start all protocols. Our plan has worked very efficiently.”

How will testing work during the fall, now that sports have been postponed to spring?

“For volleyball and soccer, they are allowed a 20-hour week, in-season training and an eight-hour a week out-of-season training. If the team is in the eight-hour window, they will not be required to test since they won’t be fully around each other. If they choose to train at the 20-hour window, they will be required to test weekly. Football will be under the same guidelines, if they continue to run practices. But we are currently waiting on further guidance from the NCAA and the Missouri Valley Football Conference working group on COVID-19 to give us direction on how much testing and practice in the fall. Golf, swimming and diving, baseball/softball, which are considered intermediate- to-low-risk sports will be able to practice after their first complete test. We are in the process of creating a monthly monitoring system for those sports.”

What has been done to make athletic facilities safe? 

“First and foremost we are following the Governor of Illinois’ Restore Illinois plan. Then we follow SIU’s EOC plan, while we have our own plan. We have one entrance to our [main] Athletics building, all of the other doors are locked. We have three exits to the building, so we do not have any cross-traffic. All staff are required to use hand sanitizer, take their temperature, and check off any symptoms on a checklist at the entrance. If they are in any common area or meeting any people, staff is required to have their mask on. The only time they may take masks off is when they are alone in their office.

Athletics does not have large meetings anymore. The traffic flow down the hallway moves in two, one-way directions so you are not crossing paths, while we also have plexiglass walls at the secretaries’ desks. Quite honestly, we are doing a great job of masking up, social distancing, and staying out of large groups.”

What role does education play in slowing the spread? 

“With the student-athletes we thought it was very important for them to understand why it is important to wear your mask and social distance. A lot of them come from different parts of the country, they may have been under different rules and regulations of where they came from, so we just wanted them to know how it will work here and remain safe. I think they have done a phenomenal job. I know there has been some questions about positive cases and quarantines, but to realize that we have only had two positive cases in student-athletes in seven weeks is important.

Now, you will have quarantines after a positive if someone were to be around each other without a mask. If there are rumors out there that there have been quarantines at times, yes, that’s because of the contact tracing. The good news is that no one has gotten sick that has been quarantining. It happens because we follow the guidelines of Jackson County and our COVID-19 plan.”

How has Covid impacted the student-athletes you’ve talked to?

“On dealing with my student-athletes, and this is not just me, I see my student-athletes craving some kind of normalcy in life. My first thought is that the health and safety is the most important thing, but if we could get a plan put together to bring them back – in a safe manner – and let them “train” a bit and get back to normal in a safe environment, we have to give it a shot.

It affected me by watching my student-athletes’ sadness and a drop in their mental well-being. With a sport such as softball, you can accomplish playing with social distance. There are other sports that are at a higher risk. I follow medical advice and Dr. Humphrey’s lead on what we need to do.

This has been unlike anything I have ever experienced. I keep telling my kids, ‘this is a 100-year event’, so if things aren’t normal, you have to adjust. It has been great watching the student-athletes embrace this and try. As an administrator, I can fully say that anyone who feels uncomfortable did not have to come back, does not have to come back, and does not have to practice. That is first and foremost.”

What do you think the future holds for Athletics in dealing with Covid?

“My hope is that there’s a cure through therapeutics or a vaccine or something to where our country can go back to normal activity – in turn normal for us. The first game I don’t have to wear a mask is going to be the best day.

I pray for those with sickness and those who have lost loved ones – it’s just horrible. I am trying to live one day at a time. What I have learned with [the pandemic], you go to bed one night thinking one thing and waking up in the morning thinking another. There are changes everyday, so you have to be able to adapt with those.

I told my student-athletes on March 12 — the day our 2020 season was canceled — that we are not going to take anything for granted and they all agreed.”