Branno/Kansas45, you guys couldn't find an example of anything severe Covid related in a college athlete. If there was a case out there, the media would be all over it right now.
EDIT: Not so fast my friend.
https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2020/6/29/21306134/college-athletes-football-season-sports-return-covid-deaths
The pundits cry: “But they’re young!” No way young folks, especially ones in as great shape as athletes, would be vulnerable to COVID-19’s most destructive outcomes! Tell that to Cody Lyster’s parents: Lyster was a 21-year-old college athlete who, in early April, became the youngest person to die from COVID-19. His parents were also infected, and have recovered. Lyster was a baseball player at Colorado Mesa University with no pre-existing health conditions, but COVID-19 killed him in less than two weeks from contraction.
But it is called clinical reasoning based on the best available data given the contagion's distinct affinity for internal organs and its affect on said internal organ physiology and the body's response to such. But then if there is no chance, as you say, because there has not been a severe case based on your clinical criteria, why were the workouts at Rutgers, Kansas State, Ohio St and others, put on pause?
Can you tell me what your phone call would be to the parents of a student-athlete under your guidance would consist of?
Lifelong Lung Damage: The Serious COVID-19 Complication That Can Hit People in Their 20s
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/lifelong-lung-damage-the-serious-covid-19-complication-that-can-hit-people-in-their-20s
Most recently, a 20-year-old COVID-19 survivor in Chicago was the recipient of a new set of lungs, due to a lung transplant that was necessary to treat a condition now being called post-COVID fibrosis.
Since we do not have this data, another hypothetical is this one (and I would like your expert medical opinion on this), what if a student-athlete contracts the virus but passes it on to someone else, who could pass it on to another person, who may end up in your "severe" category who fits in your age criteria? You know it is going to be virtually impossible to "bubble" the team and the entire athletic staff and support personnel.
But if we use your criteria of those who are over 35 stand a much higher chance of having severe reactions to this contagion, this would logically mean that coaches should NOT be coaching as a very strong majority of the coaches on the Husker staff are over the age of 35. Can we have the players suit and play without a coach? But I guess you could counter that with PPE of the coaches and periodic testing but how do you account for this aspect of your argument?
Everything you guys state regarding football, or any other college sports, is hypothetical.
Not necessarily; there is the liability issue that is predominant. Because you have failed to account for my earlier questions of why were the workouts at Rutgers, Kansas State, Ohio St and others, put on pause?" Can you please answer this fundamental question?
I have no idea if we will have a season. But I think we should based on the current data, or lack of, that college athletes aren't severely impacted.
But you leave out important factors and many variables to contend with and it cannot be based on "there are no severe cases as of yet impacting college aged students." I am surprised that you have not been called upon by the University of Nebraska's Athletic Medicine staff and been allowed to present this valuable, yet important data point, given your strong background in epidemiology, clinical medicine and infectious disease knowledge. You obviously have important medical data and a perfectly sound medical hypothesis based on zero cases of severe illness based on your severe case medical criteria.
Can you explain why this one data point that you have has not been considered and that you have not been called upon to present this? I am sure you can put together a powerpoint lecture of two or three slides and that would convince all and leave no doubt as to your medically-backed opinion. Oh heck, just one slide will be sufficient and the medical experts can look at each other in pure astonishment and go "well, golly gee. We never thought of that. Shazam!!! What are we waiting for? Let's play!!!" And then we can fans who are college aged students in the stands because they are not likely to die and we can have the band in there as they are college aged students and Bill Moos can cut a deal with all the other University of Nebraska system colleges and they can busload all those other college students to fill the stadium because your data point is quite compelling. If you are under age 22, come on in and cheer on the Huskers.
But to make sure we have your clinical criteria accurate:
Severe=hospitalization and ventilator status;
Moderate = not yet classified by you;
Mild = not yet classified by you.
You have also failed to answer this question: what will you do if one student-athlete develops a, let's say moderate, since you say "severe" is hospitalization and needing oxygen supplementation via a ventilator, and this student-athlete develops myocarditis?
And what will be your response if in the event of a covid-related death of a student-athlete?
