Since Ohio State athletes began to return to campus last June, COVID-19 testing has been an unavoidable reality in their lives.
During an interview for this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said the athletic department had administered nearly 90,000 coronavirus tests over the past year, and sometimes more than 3,600 per week. Since the Big Ten implemented daily antigen protocols on Sept. 30, athletes who are in season have been tested six days a week, and that hasn’t been easy for them, especially before COVID-19 vaccines became widely available, as athletes who tested positive were initially ineligible to return to competition for 21 days (which was later reduced to 17 days before the College Football Playoff).