Several NFL teams have postponed activities after it COVID tests from one lab, based in New Jersey, revealed a rash of positive tests.
“Saturday’s daily COVID testing returned several positives tests from each of the clubs serviced by the same laboratory in New Jersey,” the NFL said in a Sunday morning statement. “We are working with our testing partner, BioReference, to investigate these results, while the clubs work to confirm or rule out the positive tests. Clubs are taking immediate precautionary measures as outlined in the NFL-NFLPA’s health and safety protocols to include contact tracing, isolation of individuals and temporarily adjusting the schedule, where appropriate. The other laboratories used for NFL testing have not had similar results.”
[lawrence-related id=107751]
Interestingly, the Chicago Bears pointed to the possibility of false positive tests in their statement on the matter:
This morning we learned yesterday’s Covid-19 testing identified nine players/staff as positive. We followed additional NFL-NFLPA testing protocol and confirmed all nine results as false positives. Out of an abundance of caution, we postponed this morning’s practice to this afternoon at 1:30pm.
The Browns have also run into this issue, per the team’s statement.
After consistently receiving encouraging results from daily testing since returning to the facility in July, the Cleveland Browns’ COVID-19 testing process conducted yesterday initially indicates multiple individual presumptive positive cases that include players, coaches and support staff. Although, we have received indication from the NFL that they are investigating irregularities in lab results that have also impacted other clubs, out of an abundance of caution, we will immediately follow our comprehensive Infectious Disease Emergency Response plan and pause any activity in our building today and conduct meetings virtually. As per plan procedure, the team is also diligently reviewing proximity data for contact tracing and instructed self-isolation for those who tested positive and others as appropriate even though they all remain asymptomatic. Our facility is currently undergoing a thorough deep-cleaning and disinfecting process and is closed to all personnel for the day. We will provide updates as testing results are confirmed and more information is available.
Per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, the Buffalo Bills have also been affected, and that Bills general manager Brandon Beane said that 10-11 teams are impacted — which means that 10-11 teams are now part of a league investigation to determine whether or not the test results are accurate.
Beane told reporters that there were 10-11 teams impacted by this testing episode. We know of three for sure: Bears, Browns and Bills.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) August 23, 2020
And the Jets have also been affected.
10 false positive tests for the Jets Saturday, so walkthrough was cancelled and building was closed.
Once tests kept back negative, Jets were cleared to practice Sunday.
— Eric Allen (@eallenjets) August 23, 2020
To call so many false positives an “irregularity” would be correct. As Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network indicates, “The NFL has conducted well over 100,000 COVID-19 tests since camp began with a positivity rate that’s a fraction of 1% and dropping. A sudden flood of positives from different testing sites, all processed by the same lab, raises a red flag.”
Several, in fact. According to MIT Medical, false positives are exceedingly rare.
The PCR test for COVID-19 works by detecting genetic material from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The genetic material from SARS-CoV-2 cannot be confused with the genetic material from other viruses, so the COVID-19 diagnostic test is highly specific. This means it almost never gives a false positive. If you are tested for COVID-19, and the test comes back positive, you can be very sure that you are infected with this virus. The new antigen test for COVID-19 is also very specific and rarely gives a false positive.
BioReference, which also provides testing services to the NBA and Major League Soccer, details its testing procedures on its website.
Antibodies are proteins produced by the body’s immune system to try to fight infection. BioReference offers a test that utilizes a blood sample to measure SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody levels, which correlate with a patient’s immune response after COVID-19 infection. Based on early evidence, antibodies are is expected to be elevated in the majority of patients by 14 days after the onset of symptoms. The timeline for antibody elevation in asymptomatic patients is still being studied.
So, we have one of two possible outcomes here. Either the New Jersey lab has irregularities in the tests it processed for the NFL, or the New Jersey lab results are correct, and the other labs the NFL are using are not accurate. While he league uses several different labs to avoid backlogs; the idea is to get the test results back within 24 hours.
There is also a new saliva-based test that has been rush-approved by the FDA, which is hoped to provide quick, inexpensive, and accurate testing at a higher rate. In June, more than one NFL general manager told Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson about the hope for a saliva-based test that was quicker and more affordable for everyone, and that, per Robinson, “it was one of the big hopes to keep fans safe and a season on track.”