The California Golden Bears postponed Saturday’s game against USC over a coronavirus outbreak among Bears players despite that the team is reportedly 99 percent vaccinated.
Cal announced on Tuesday that the game scheduled for Nov. 13 will now be played on Dec. 4 after the outbreak left the team without enough players to field against USC, the L.A. Times reported.
The Trojan-Bears matchup becomes the first college football game of the 2021 season to be postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
“It was a difficult decision to postpone this Saturday’s game against USC,” said Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton. “We know how important every one of our games is to our student-athletes, especially our seniors who have been incredible representatives of the program, but it was the right thing to do. Due to additional impact on specific position groups, we have decided to postpone Saturday’s game. We have had multiple COVID-19 positives within our program, and we are taking every step we can to mitigate the spread and protect the greater community.”
Some players have taken to social media to complain about the whole situation, especially concerning the testing requirements.
“We players are frustrated with our University Health Services (UHS),” Cal quarterback Chase Garbers said in a Tweet on Monday. “City and University officials spoke to us today, [and] they really had no answers for us. They just beat around the bush and deflected our questions. However, we did come away with that the testing last week was not mandated by anyone, it was highly recommended, meaning they should’ve never happened. But the university told us it was mandated, and we could not participate unless we tested.
“They will continue to test us this week. These tests also aren’t mandated but highly recommended so therefore we should have a choice on whether to take the test or not. But they are still forcing us to take the test with the threat of cancelling competition unless we test. Nothing was mandated but it was enforced as so with the threat of keeping players and staff out of competition until we tested and the same if for this week. We have worked too hard to have someone take this all away from us, it is wrong. We deserve answers and transparent communication.”
Cal linebacker Luc Bequette blasted the situation, as well, noting that he has been warned that he can get arrested in Berkeley for not taking a COVID test but can go to San Francisco and be ignored for robbing stores.
“UHS told us we could be arrested for refusing to test as vaccinated individuals with no symptoms. If I understand correctly, I can go to San Francisco, steal a bunch of items in a Walgreens, and not be arrested. However, if I refuse a test in Berkeley, I can be,” he wrote.
Berkeley’s Department of Public Health accused the school’s entire football program of causing the outbreak.
“Cases emerged in an environment of ongoing failure to abide by public health measures,” the agency said in a statement. “People in the program did not: Get tested when sick, stay home when sick, [or wear] masks indoors.
“These simple measures keep people safe,” the statement continues. “Failing to do so results not only in individual infections, sickness, and worse, but also threatens the safety of all around them – especially those with compromised immune systems.”
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