By Jarra Gojolo — Senior Content Editor
New COVID-19 guidelines from Santa Clara County will put a pause on all sports including San Jose State’s.
Announced Saturday, the new revisions to the county health officer’s mandatory directives will go into effect Monday until Dec. 21 barring any extension.
“All recreational activities that involve physical contact or close proximity to persons outside one’s household, including all contact sports, will be temporarily prohibited,” reads the county order.
“People can continue to engage in outdoor athletics and recreation where social distancing can be maintained at all times.”
The revisions also affect universities like Stanford and Santa Clara, and professional teams like the San Francisco 49ers and San Jose Sharks.
The Spartans — whose game against Boise State Saturday was canceled due to cases and contact tracing on the Broncos side — now see their final two games of the season in serious jeopardy.
Both games against Hawaii and Nevada are scheduled to be played at CEFCU Stadium within the timeframe of the revised guidelines.
Football isn’t the only SJSU sport affected by these new rules. The non-conference seasons of both men’s and women’s basketball would be totally eliminated as-is, as the rules are set to expire on the opening day of Mountain West conference play.
For both teams, three of their four remaining non-conference games were scheduled to be at home. While the men haven’t played a game yet due to the cancellation of their season-opener against Simpson University, the women began their season with a win at Cal.
A 14-day quarantine period for people returning to the county from a distance further than 150 miles away will also be implemented. The lone exceptions are for healthcare workers coming in to give care and medical patients coming in to receive care.
Considering that, and the fact practices are likely also restricted, SJSU Football can’t simply switch their final two games from home to away like New Mexico did earlier in the season.
Long story short: the Spartans will have to move their entire operation elsewhere if they choose to see the rest of their season through. As long as their loss column stays at zero, they could host the Dec. 19 Mountain West Championship Game, wherever that may be.
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