Three days after Oregon canceled a schedule scrimmage after saying five players tested positive for COVID-19, the program announced Tuesday that those results were determined to be false positives.
“Based on two separate subsequent negative PCR tests from independent labs, the five positive antigen tests from the Oregon football program on Saturday were discovered to be false positives,” the school said in a statement. “Following consultation between UO Athletic Medicine and Lane County Public Health, all five student-athletes were removed from isolation and returned to the team to participate in the resumption of practice this morning.”
The Pac-12’s testing program requires daily rapid-turnaround antigen tests that are supplemented by PCR testing.
“There was regular PCR testing on Sunday as well as the standard daily antigen testing on Monday and Tuesday, with all results returning as negative,” the school said.
It did not name the athletes who were placed into isolation after the false positives.
Oregon opens the season Nov. 7, against Stanford (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).