Matthew Stafford's test for COVID-19 was false-positive, team says, moved back to active roster
Matthew Stafford
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford's test for COVID-19 yielded a false-positive result, the Detroit Lions said in a statement Tuesday afternoon, and continued to say that the player does not have the coronavirus.
The Lions said Stafford has been moved back onto the active roster.
The Lions said Stafford's testing sequence for the pre-entry period was negative, negative, false-positive, and then the next three tests were all negative.
"To be clear, Matthew does NOT have COVID-19 and never has had COVID-19 and the test in question was a False-Positive. Also, all of Matthew's family have been tested and everyone is negative," the statement reads.
The reserve/COVID-19 list that Stafford was added to is a temporary injured reserve list set up due to the ongoing coronavirus. Players who test positive but are asymptomatic can return 10 days after the first test or five days after the first test but with two confirmed negative tests.
Players who show symptoms cannot be cleared until at least 10 days from the time symptoms first occurred.
"Today we removed Matthew Stafford from the COVID-IR list and onto the Active Roster," the team said Tuesday.