One of the main hurdles that was cleared to allow Big Ten football to come back this fall was the ability to administer daily, rapid COVID-19 testing. To be able to do so allows a team to go on the field knowing that it isn’t spreading the virus to its opponent or among itself.
Once that was a reality the conference was more willing to bring football back in the heartland, and so it was. However, what wasn’t known is where this daily testing that was to begin on September 30 would be coming from.
Now we do.
According to a release from the Big Ten on Wednesday, it has formed a partnership with Biodesix, Inc. and Quidel Corporation.
Biodesix will administer and oversee the Quidel FDA-authorized SOFIA 2 SARS rapid antigen test for all fourteen Big Ten members. The partnership will provide comprehensive surveillance testing for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) for all student-athletes and staff personnel involved in close contact sports competition. Any positive results will then be referred to the appropriate student-athlete’s medical staff for further confirmation and contact tracing.
“Along with its medical and scientific capabilities as a certified laboratory, Biodesix is committed to helping the Big Ten meet the testing requirements and reporting protocols established by the medical subcommittee and adopted by the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C),” said Dr. Jim Borchers, Head Team Physician, The Ohio State University, and co-chair of the Big Ten Conference Return to Competition Task Force medical subcommittee. In the statement provided, Dr. Borchers added, “Quidel’s rapid antigen testing technology represents the ability to perform COVID-19 surveillance testing on a large scale with prompt results.”
The Big Ten Conference has entered into strategic partnerships with Biodesix, Inc. and Quidel Corporation to provide comprehensive surveillance testing for SARS-CoV-2 for all student-athletes and staff personnel involved in close contact sport competition: https://t.co/giNV9IN15B
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) September 30, 2020
The appropriate personnel from Biodesix will be on sight this week as the first shipments of the Quidel tests arrive at all fourteen institutions. Along with its designated contractor, Maxim Healthcare Staffing Services, Inc., it will assume immediate responsibility for the oversight and administration of the testing.
“The partnership with Biodesix and Quidel is an important step toward achieving our mission of keeping our student-athletes, and the communities that support them, healthy and safe,” said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren. “The data we are scheduled to collect, and the research component of this partnership, will provide major contributions to all 14 Big Ten institutions as they study COVID-19 and attempt to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) among wider communities.”
This is an important step in having Big Ten football remain on campuses this fall, and it’s great that the conference went out and obtained these partnerships independent of the conference to make sure that the experts in the field are overseeing the safety of the student-athletes during this pandemic.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.
Download the USA TODAY SportsWire app to follow Buckeyes Wire and your other favorite teams in the Apple Store for iPhones and Google Play for Android devices.