COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation
1. Surveillance
a. Symptom questionnaire: Student-athletes and staff are required to complete a symptom
questionnaire before accessing facilities on a daily basis.b. Clinical evaluation: If student-athletes or staff develop COVID-19 symptoms at any point, a clinical evaluation is required.
c. Testing: The Big Ten COVID-19 Virus Testing Bulletin provides the minimum required testing cadence, but additional testing should be conducted as indicated.
d. Contact tracing: Plan and implementation should be in conjunction with public health and campus medical providers.
i. Those with prolonged close contact (greater than 15 minutes within 6 feet) during the period of infectivity (2 days prior to symptom onset or test date for
asymptomatic cases until the time of isolation) are considered close contacts per the CDC.ii. The Conference will work with institutions to develop an independent process to provide oversight and consistency in defining close contacts and working with public health departments to conduct contact tracing.
2. Close contact of COVID-19 positive/suspected infection
a. Quarantine: 14 days required per current national guidelines, without ability to test out of quarantine.
b. Return to play after a close contact: Allowable if no symptoms develop while quarantined and the individual has quarantined for the required time. Institutions may consider testing contacts during quarantine if the local testing supply is adequate; however, this does not shorten or remove the need for the 14-day quarantine period.
3. Presumed Infection:
a. Person Under investigation (PUI): Isolate individual with suspected infection, notify the appropriate team personnel, and refer to a medical professional for evaluation and management. If testing subsequently reveals the individual is positive for the virus, close contacts are required to be immediately quarantined and the individual placed in isolation.
b. Pre-competition patient PUI or confirmed case: For cases that arise after precompetition testing but before competition begins, the individual is required to be promptly isolated and contact traced. If testing subsequently reveals the individual is positive for the virus, close contacts are required to be immediately quarantined prior to competition and
the individual placed in isolation.c. In-competition PUI: For cases that arise during competition, the individual needs to be promptly isolated, and that information is required to be shared with the current opponent to aid in decisions about how to proceed with that competition. If testing subsequently reveals the individual is positive for the virus, close contacts are required to be immediately quarantined and the individual placed in isolation.
d. Post-competition PUI or confirmed case: For confirmed cases that arise after competition is completed, the individual is required to be promptly isolated and contact traced to quarantine close contacts. Information is required to be shared with the previous week’s opponent, if applicable, to facilitate contact tracing at the opponent’s institution.
4. Confirmed Infection
a. Asymptomatic Infection: Required
i. Isolate for at least 10 days from the positive test (20 days if severely immunocompromised according to CDC criteria). If the student-athlete or staff member becomes symptomatic, revert to recommendations below.
ii. Cardiac workup based on current guidelines.
iii. Must be cleared by team physician prior to return.
iv. Reacclimatization to physical exertion based on current guidelines.
v. Treatment and return to activity will require collaboration with health careproviders.
b. Symptomatic Infection: Required
i. Infected individuals with mild to moderate illnesses who are not severely immunocompromised must be isolated for at least 10 days from onset of symptoms and at least 1 day (24 hours) has passed since recovery, defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement of respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) in accordance with current CDC guidance. For severe illnesses or severely immunocompromised individuals regardless of illness severity, the isolation period should be extended to 20 days from the onset of symptoms and at least 1 day (24 hours) since recovery.
ii. Cardiac workup based on current guidelines.
iii. Must be cleared by team physician prior to return.
iv. Reacclimatization to physical exertion based on current guidelines.
v. Treatment and return to activity will require collaboration with health care
providers.
This document was jointly authored by the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases in collaboration with the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee.