Things may start to get closer to normal soon, as Cal has announced that they're allowing for student- athletes to return to campus for voluntary outdoor workouts. In a release, Cal Athletics announced that, in-line with the city of Berkeley's public health order and guidelines set by University Health Services physicians, they're allowing voluntary outdoor workouts in small cohorts with the guidance of the Cal Athletics Performance staff.

Cal's plan is in-line recent announcements by the Pac-12 and NCAA on when and how the team has to come back to campus, which involves:

- Completing educational training on the signs, symptoms, evaluation, and testing for COVID-19, as well as how to prevent infection and infection control.

- A seven-day quarantine prior to beginning athletic activities, along with an antibody test, a COVID-19 test and a physical

- Temperature checks every time a student athlete enters a facility, along with symptom screening

- Scheduled entry times in order to maintain physical distancing.

- Isolation protocols for anyone who tests positive.

- Limited capacity in athletic facilities, and workouts in cohorts of 10, with facial coverings required at all times (by the city of Berkeley's public health order)

- Holding workouts initially at Memorial Stadium and Maxwell Field to start, with other outdoor facilities to be used once more student athletes are cleared for workouts. Indoor weight training will be allowed once approved by Berkeley Public Health.

The timeline for student athletes goes as follows:

- Return to campus/area, have blood drawn for antibody testing and quarantine for seven days

- On the 7th day, swab test for active infection

- Days 8-12 involve pre-participation medical clearance, while days 9-14 mark the start of physical activity.

"With the health and safety of our student-athletes our highest priority, we have been deliberate every step of the way in developing this plan, coordinating with and relying on the expertise of local, state and federal experts to guide our process," Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said. "With information and conditions changing rapidly, we believe that we have a system that allows our student-athletes to return to campus for voluntary workouts with structures in place to mitigate risk, to manage issues that may arise and to adjust as necessary to meet the current environment and public health guidelines."

"We have put a plan in place that provides very specific guidelines and safeguards that will support the health of our student-athletes and staff," said Dr. Lindsay Huston, Cal's head team physician. "It relies on input from some of the top infectious disease experts in the country – from our own School of Public Health and elsewhere – as well as collaborative work with the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee. We are also well-prepared for the possibility that in two weeks, a month, three months, things could look very different, so we will have to continue to adapt and be flexible as conditions change."

"We are excited that our football student-athletes will soon be able to begin voluntary workouts on campus," football coach Justin Wilcox said. "As we have done since the pandemic began, we will continue to rely on the expertise of medical experts to help guide us as we approach the fall season."

Cal is now the eighth Pac-12 school to announce a return to voluntary workouts, in the wake of UCLA announcing their return on June 22nd. With the NCAA guidelines of when Cal can ramp to team workouts for a six-week leadup to the beginning of the 2020 season (with Cal opening at UNLV on August 29th, the Bears could ostensibly start team workouts on July 6th per NCAA guidelines), this allows the Bears to get back to campus and start working toward whatever the 2020 season looks like.