BOZEMAN — Tuesday marked the second day Montana State allowed student-athletes to return to campus, and athletic director Leon Costello said the university is comfortable with the protocols they have put in place to ensure everyone remains safe and healthy.
Of course establishing guidelines for the student-athletes to follow while they train on-campus also comes with a plan for what happens if one of those student-athletes tests positive for COVID-19. It’s the last thing anyone wants to happen. However, Costello said those protocols he and his staff have put in place will make it easier to prepare and contain an outbreak if that situation arises.
“If the worst case happens, I mean, it’s locking down everything and everybody that person came into contact with. No ifs, ands or buts about it," said Costello. "And that’s why, from the beginning, we were very strategic on the groups we put together, who was working out together and which staff members were involved with those groups, so that we know if we have to take somebody or a group offline we can do that fairly efficiently and not affect maybe some of the other groups.”
All out-of-state student-athletes are still required to follow a mandatory 10-day quarantine. Costello also said the athletic department is working closely with their trainers at Bozeman Health to ensure no setbacks take place as they slowly transition back to normalcy.
