The Colonial Athletic Association announced today that an official who had worked during the conference’s men’s basketball tournament last week has tested positive for coronavirus.

From the CAA’s announcement:

RICHMOND, Va. (March 12, 2020) – The Colonial Athletic Association has been made aware that a game official who worked at the 2020 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship has tested positive for the Coronavirus.

The official did not exhibit symptoms of the virus until 72 hours after the game he worked, but out of an abundance of caution the conference has made the involved institutions and tournament personnel aware of the situation so they can take proper precautionary measures.

Considering there is some evidence to suggest that the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted before symptoms are present, this is obviously another example as to why the NCAA moved to cancel all winter and spring championships, and why leagues all over have suspended operations. Obviously college officials tend to work a lot of games in a lot of places, too, so there’s a chance that this official may have done other games, too. It’s why the cancellations and suspensions are so important; people might think they’re doing everything right and still end up contracting or transmitting the virus.

There’s no evidence to suggest that’s the case, but it’s certainly plausible. It’s also likely that this kind of story is going to continue to pop up again and again in the coming days and weeks. Hopefully the unnamed official makes a quick and full recovery.

[CAA]

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.