Athletes Drive Distinctive Trends of COVID-19 Infection in a College Campus Environment

Austin T. Hertel, Madison M. Heeter, Olivia M. Wirfel, Mara J. Bestram and Steven A. Mauro
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Austin T. Hertel: Department of Biology, Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences, Gannon University, Erie, PA 16541, USA
Madison M. Heeter: Department of Biology, Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences, Gannon University, Erie, PA 16541, USA
Olivia M. Wirfel: Department of Biology, Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences, Gannon University, Erie, PA 16541, USA
Mara J. Bestram: Department of Biology, Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences, Gannon University, Erie, PA 16541, USA
Steven A. Mauro: Department of Biology, Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences, Gannon University, Erie, PA 16541, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-10

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic forced most institutions of higher education to offer instruction and activities offsite, impacting millions of people. As universities consider resuming normal operations on campus, evidence-based guidance is needed to enhance safety protocols to reduce the spread of infectious disease in their campus environments. During the 2020/2021 academic year, Gannon University in Erie, PA, USA, was able to maintain most of its operations on campus. Part of Gannon’s disease mitigation strategy involved the development of a novel in-house, real-time RT-PCR-based surveillance program, which tested 23,227 samples to monitor the presence of COVID-19 on campus. Temporal trends of COVID-19 infection at Gannon were distinct from statewide data. A significant portion of this variance involved student athletes and associated staff, which identified as a higher incidence risk group compared with non-athletes. Rapid identification of athlete driven outbreaks allowed for swift action to limit the spread of COVID-19 among teammates and to the rest of the campus community. This allowed for successful completion of instruction and a modified season for all sports at Gannon. Our findings provide insights that could prove useful to the thousands of institutions seeking to resume a more traditional presence on campus.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; RT-PCR; university; athletes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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