KU O-linemen cleared from quarantine after false positive confirmed

By Benton Smith     Nov 3, 2020

Nick Krug
Kansas center Api Mane watches two teammates in the Jayhawk drill during practice on Friday, Aug. 9, 2019.

The Kansas football team’s offensive line should be back at full strength this week after all, because senior starters Api Mane and Adagio Lopeti are no longer in quarantine.

A positive COVID-19 test for one KU player this past Friday led to contact tracing protocols that made both Mane and Lopeti unavailable for the Jayhawks’ home game versus Iowa State this past weekend, but KU spokesperson Dan Beckler told the Journal-World on Tuesday the team has since learned it was a false positive.

After the antigen test came back positive for the undisclosed player, Beckler said, PCR tests were administered twice in the days that followed to confirm the positive, and both came back negative.

Big 12 rules allow for players who receive a false positive — as well as anyone they’ve come in close contact with — to be cleared immediately after two negative followup re-tests.

Beckler said KU football currently has no active COVID-19 cases, with this development.

Before a false positive was confirmed, head coach Les Miles said during his Monday press conference that his two senior starters on the O-line would remain unavailable another week.

However, Mane can now return to his spot at starting center and Lopeti can plug back in as the starting right tackle for KU’s game on Saturday at Oklahoma (2:30 p.m. kickoff, ESPN).A positive COVID-19 test for one KU player this past Friday led to contact tracing protocols that made both Mane and Lopeti unavailable for the Jayhawks’ home game versus Iowa State this past weekend, but KU spokesperson Dan Beckler told the Journal-World on Tuesday the team has since learned it was a false positive.

After the antigen test came back positive for the undisclosed player, Beckler said, PCR tests were administered twice in the days that followed to confirm the positive, and both came back negative.

Big 12 rules allow for players who receive a false positive — as well as anyone they’ve come in close contact with — to be cleared immediately after two negative followup re-tests.

Beckler said KU football currently has no active COVID-19 cases, with this development.

Before a false positive was confirmed, head coach Les Miles said during his Monday press conference that his two senior starters on the O-line would remain unavailable another week.

However, Mane can now return to his spot at starting center and Lopeti can plug back in as the starting right tackle for KU’s game on Saturday at Oklahoma (2:30 p.m. kickoff, ESPN).

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