NCAA warns fall sports at risk: Coronavirus data points in "wrong direction"
16 July 2020
The NCAA announced new guidelines on Thursday for colleges to follow as they navigate the return of fall sports amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Why it matters: The directions are designed to help schools respond to and protect athletes from possible community spread of COVID-19. Some universities have abruptly cut sports teams and reevaluated programs because of the economic fallout from the outbreak.
What they're saying: "When we made the extremely difficult decision to cancel last spring’s championships it was because there was simply no way to conduct them safely," NCAA President Mark Emmert said in Thursday's statement.
- "Today, sadly, the data point in the wrong direction. If there is to be college sports in the fall, we need to get a much better handle on the pandemic."
Details: The guidelines call fordaily self-health checks, the use of face masks and social distancing when possible, testing strategies for all athletic activities, and testing and results within 72 hours of high contact risk sports.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.