A 'contamination' with the NFL's COVID-19 testing partner led to 77 false-positives in one day and raised alarm bells

• The NFL reported 77 positive COVID-19 tests among 11 teams on Saturday.
• The tests turned out to be false-positives, due to an "isolated contamination" at a regional BioReference lab, the league's testing partner.
• All 77 individuals later returned negative tests.
• Though some practices were affected, the incident raised concerns about how the league would handle such an incident during the season.

A COVID-19 outbreak scare among NFL teams on Saturday turned out to be false-positives, according to multiple reports.

During a round of training camp testing, 77 individual tests from 11 different teams came back positive, raising alarm bells around the league about a potential outbreak.

However, BioReference, the NFL's testing partner, said the false-positives were due to "isolated contamination" at their lab in New Jersey. The company said in a statement on Monday that the issue was resolved.

"On August 22, BioReference Laboratories reported an elevated number of positive COVID-19 PCR test results for NFL players and personnel at multiple clubs. The NFL immediately took necessary actions to ensure the safety of the players and personnel. Our investigation indicated that these were most likely false positive results, caused by an isolated contamination during test preparation in the New Jersey laboratory. Reagents, analyzers and staff were all ruled out as possible causes and subsequent testing has indicated that the issue has been resolved. All individuals impacted have been confirmed negative and informed."

According to ESPN's Kevin Seifert, each individual whose test returned positive took point-of-care tests over the weekend that all returned negative.

The false-positive impacted practices over the weekend for the teams involved. According to Seifert, the Buffalo Bills pushed practice back an hour and withheld those who tested positive. The New York Jets cancelled a Saturday walk-through practice, but practiced on Sunday after the re-tests came back negative. The Minnesota Vikings withheld those who tested positive from practice.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said the incident would help them prepare for the regular season.

"Honestly for us, it's probably good that it happened now because we were able to adjust and adapt and figure out the kinds of things that would happen if [it] did happen during the season and what we would do from there," Zimmer said.

The incident still raised concerns about how teams would handle such an incident during the season, especially before a game day.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that the NFL and NFL Players Assocation is considering Friday tests for Sunday games to root out false-positives and investigate positive tests. According to USA Today's Jarrett Bell, individuals who test positive must re-test two times and return two negative tests to return to work.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said less than 1% of tests administered in the NFL has returned positive so far. However, daily testing is set to expire on September 5, with the league and players negotiating regular season protocols.

As Bell wrote, games and seasons could be decided by the testing protocols and results.

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