Photo by Zach Bukowski

The Al McGuire Center.

After Marquette delayed the start of voluntary workouts July 14, the athletics department implemented new protocol that includes mandatory COVID-19 testing and a seven-day monitoring period for all student athletes who returned to campus Deputy Athletic Director Mike Broeker told Paint Touches, a Marquette basketball analysis and opinion blog.

Broeker said baseline testing begins this week for every student athlete.

These protocols follow NCAA and BIG EAST regulations relating to non-competition testing. Broeker said the protocol is on a sport-by-sport basis and explained the NCAA defines each contact sport at either a low, medium or high risk. Low contact sports include golf, tennis and track and field. Medium contact risk sports include cross country. High contact risk sports include basketball, lacrosse, soccer, and volleyball.

Athletics is shooting to begin voluntary workouts Aug. 31 if COVID-19 results come back negative.

Following this testing period, Marquette plans to surveillance test 50% of the athletes on high-risk sports teams every two weeks.

Non-student athletes and faculty at Marquette were not required to get tested for COVID-19 before returning to campus.

“Our own medical folks ultimately have to be comfortable with it, and they are,” Broeker told Paint Touches. “That could change as guidance is in flux one way or the other.”

This story is still developing.

This story was written by Zoe Comerford. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @zoe_comerford.