In order to maintain the NCAA basketball tournament Covid -19 free all coaches, players, and staff were required to be tested regularly. The difference between the men and women's basketball tournament was that the men's teams were tested with PCR Covid-19 tests vs the women who were tested using the Covid Antigen test. The PCR tests are known the be more accurate when determining whether a patient has Covid or not. Although both tests require a nasal swab sample, the average turn around time for the Antigen test is less than 24 hours versus 2-4 days for the PCR test. The Antigen test detects proteins from a virus particle. The PCR test detects viral genetic material, this is done through many amplification cycles in PCR testing. Since the Antigen test is less sensitive and faster than the PCR test, there are more room for errors allowing patients to receive false positives or even false negative results. Often times when a positive Antigen test would appear in the basketball tournament, it would be followed by a PCR test to ensure it was correct. The PCR test costs $125 vs the Antigen tests that costs $95. The difference in testing came to light when various women's basketball teams such as Stanford and Connecticut expressed their frustration through the media. This caused massive chaos on social media platforms such as twitter. The NCAA was accused of being sexist and unequal amongst other things. The NCAA President, Mark Emmert, released a statement saying there were no risk differences from either test and that he was not a medical expert so he would not discuss the PCR and Antigen tests.
For more information on the NCAA Covid-19 discrepancy: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaw/2021/03/19/ncaa-tournament-covid-19-tests-mark-emmert/4767983001/
To see the differences in PCR vs Antigen test: https://advurgent.com/covid-19-test-differences/
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