K-State football faces COVID-19

With less than two weeks to go before its season opener, Kansas State football is facing another COVID-19 outbreak.

The Riley County Health Department on Monday identified the football program as one of four new local sources of outbreaks with 10 cases. That number is up from seven last Friday.

A K-State spokesman confirmed Tuesday morning that the Wildcats currently have 10 active cases. He also said the team continues to practice in preparation for its Sept. 12 season opener against Arkansas State at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

This is the second outbreak of the virus for the football program, which in late June suspended its voluntary workouts for two weeks after recording 14 positive tests.

K-State coach Chris Klieman said during an Aug. 25 news conference that the Wildcats had recorded no new cases in their weekly testing since the start of preseason camp, but he sounded a cautionary note. Fall semester classes started last week on campus.

“I think with all the students coming back, we’ll see how we’re going to be,” Klieman said. “I think every institution is worried about that over the next few weeks to a month, with all the students coming back.”

K-State was testing players each Wednesday, but with the season quickly approaching that has increased to multiple tests per week, according to the K-State spokesman.

Klieman said he was not naïve about the fact that keeping players in a bubble

once campus activities were underway, not to mention the accompanying social scene, would be next to impossible.

“It’s going to be difficult, there’s no question,” he said. “They’re still 18- to 22-year-old college students.”

The players had a rare Saturday off on Aug. 22, but not before the coaches reminded them of their responsibilities.

“We talked about it as a staff and we talked with our leadership council,” Klieman said. “We can’t practice every Friday and Saturday night the whole semester, so some of that you have to put on the leadership.”

The coaches also reminded players to stay out of compromising situations, such as large gatherings where people weren’t social distancing or wearing masks.

“You have to avoid anything that would put yourself or your teammates in jeopardy,“ Klieman said.

In addition to the football team, three K-State fraternities and a sorority were added to the outbreak list Monday. That brings to eight the total of fraternities and sororities identified by RCHD.

K-State game times announced

The Big 12 announced Tuesday that K-State’s Sept. 12 season opener will kick off at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised by FS1.

After a bye week, the Wildcats open Big 12 play at Oklahoma on Sept. 26 with an 11 a.m. kickoff on Fox.

Arne Green, The Salina Journal