After a month-long timeout, it’s game on, once again, thanks to a new antigen testing program.

   Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Health and Human Services department announced a pilot program on Friday, Dec. 18, that will allow the resumption of the remaining Michigan High School Athletic Association fall playoffs in football, volleyball, and girls swimming and diving.

   Winter sports will remain on hold according to the new order, with the exception of girls and boys skiing, which is conducted outdoors.

   Robert Gordon, MDHHS director, made the announcement at a press conference at the state capitol, that the remaining fall playoffs can resume, but with no spectators and players will have to undergo rapid testing for COVID-19. The antigen tests check for proteins that can indicate a person has the virus.

   "This is a very limited number of schools that had seasons interrupted," Gordon said Friday. "This will be a chance to do two things. It will let students complete a season. That of course is very important to them. It will let schools and the state of Michigan work together to learn how we can use antigen tests to encourage safe reopening in January."

   Each school with athletes competing in football, volleyball or girls swimming and diving will receive antigen rapid tests from the MDHHS. Those schools will receive enough to complete three tests per week for each athlete involved, as well as any coach or personnel that are at practices or part of the bench on game day. The MDHHS will be providing the tests at no charge to the schools.

   The rapid test is a non-invasive process with a swab of the nose and that swab is applied to a card where results of the test appear rapidly. Should a person test positive, that individual will need to connect with their own medical provider but will not necessarily be excluded from participation after direction from that provider.

   The new order also allowed reopening casinos, bowling alleys and stadiums as well as allowing for in-person learning at Michigan high schools.

   Further, indoor sports and contact sports, including children, youth and adult recreation leagues, are not allowed unless they can be tested at least six days a week, have no social contact outside of their teammates and household members and can be supervised by a team medical staff member.

   The pause in high school sports began Nov. 16 and was part of a wide-ranging set of restrictions designed to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The restrictions were later extended to Dec. 20.

   Last week, 11.4 percent of the state’s COVID-19 tests were positive, which is the lowest rate over the last five weeks. Last week, Michigan also reported its lowest weekly number of new cases since early November.

   After delaying a meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 16, the MHSAA representative council met earlier in the day on Friday to plan how to move forward.

   The MHSAA’s initial plan was to complete the remaining fall playoffs before the end of 2020, but that plan was crushed by the governor extending the initial timeout until Dec. 20.

   MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl expressed his excitement about the new testing program in a virtual press conference with reporters.

   “What it’s going to allow is for kids to have some closure on their fall seasons over the next 29 days,” Uyl said. “We’ve been able to get our dates in place. Part of the testing program that’s required is there will be a rapid test that we’ll get to schools here shortly. We’re still working through some of the details on how the exact process will work. Essentially, there will be some testing in place.”

  The testing will be provided by the MDHHS at no cost to the MHSAA or schools. Uyl said the MDHHS was responsible for the development and application of the new testing program.

   “The concept all came from the Department of Health and Human Services,” Uyl said. “I know the press conference – I think it was about a week ago – we heard Gov. (Gretchen) Whitmer and director Gordon clearly state that their priority was getting schools open for in-person learning first. As things have developed over the last week or so, in order for schools to stay open safely, they believe rapid testing is going to be one of the many tools that is going to help schools in the new year … they felt like this was the perfect sample size.”

   Practice for the remaining fall playoff teams can begin on Monday, Dec. 21.

   In football, the regional final games for 11-player teams and the semifinals for eight-player teams will begin again on Saturday, Jan. 2. The eight-player championship games in both divisions and all 11-player semifinals will be played Saturday, Jan. 9. The football season will conclude with the 11-player championships in all divisions the weekend of Jan. 15-16. All semifinals in both 11 and eight-player will be played at home sites. But some schools are currently searching to see if indoor venues are available. Sites for championship games will be finalized soon.

   Currently there are only 72 schools left in football competition — 64 in 11-player and eight in eight-player. And after the regional championships there will be only 36 schools still playing.

   A big question now is how many of the seniors who signed national letters of intent this past week with plans to enroll in college in January