The ACC announced Monday it added shorter isolation options for vaccinated individuals to its medical advisory group report, following updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A vaccinated individual who tests positive for COVID-19 may complete isolation when one of the following happens (if permitted by local and state public health officials):
• Once asymptomatic, the individual has two negative tests (molecular PCR or antigen) at least 24 hours apart, or
• At least seven days have passed since the first positive test, the individual's symptoms are improving and the individual has one negative test within 24 hours of being cleared.
Such an individual must be fever-free for at least 24 hours to be cleared under either of the options.
The rapidly spreading omicron variant has cancelled or postponed scores of basketball games across the country, in addition to several bowl games. For men's and women's basketball in the ACC, a team must have a roster minimum of seven game-available scholarship student-athletes and one countable coach to play a game.
Conferences recently amended their policies for game rescheduling and forfeitures as a result of all the cancellations.
In the short-term, the policy change could impact this week's ACC men's basketball schedule. ESPN reported earlier Monday that Duke's two games this week -- vs. Clemson on Wednesday and vs. Notre Dame on Saturday -- were expected to be postponed because of COVID-19 issues within the Blue Devils' program.
While the school has since confirmed the Clemson postponement, the shortened isolation timeline could theoretically allow Duke to play on Saturday, depending on how many players were positive, whether they're symptomatic and continue to test positive throughout the week and whether additional players test positive later in the week.
The ACC's medical advisory group has met weekly since the spring of 2020 to share information on the impact of COVID-19 on ACC campuses and college athletics.
ESPN's Jeff Borzello contributed to this story.