On Tuesday, Oct. 6, President John Thrasher of Florida State University and his wife Jean Thrasher announced that they tested positive for coronavirus. Thrasher learned of his condition at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, the day after Lady Jean Thrasher had learned her test came back positive. Although the symptoms of the virus are serious and can be deadly, Thrasher seems to be in high spirits.
At 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, just an hour after having received his positive results, Thrasher tweeted the following: “I wanted to share with the FSU family that First Lady Jean Thrasher and I have tested positive for COVID-19. I’m working from home as we both isolate. We are feeling well at this time and truly appreciate everyone’s support and well wishes!”
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Thrasher’s coronavirus test was a PCR test, which is used to detect the genetic material of the virus. It is uncertain what type of test Jean Thrasher’s test was, but she was made aware of her positive results after a stay in the hospital as well as a rehabilitation center for an unrelated condition that has not been made public.
An announcement from Florida State University on Tuesday explained that Thrasher has been getting regularly tested for COVID-19 for months and had negative results as recent as Oct. 2. Due to testing negative on Friday, Thrasher did attend the football game on Saturday but continued to follow all of the safety guidelines in place, such as social distancing and wearing a face mask. The announcement also explained that the University has already began the process of contact tracing and is informing any individual who did come in contact with the president to follow the recommended CDC guidelines. Thrasher has shown to be a huge proponent for taking precautions to prevent the virus so it is not surprising how well he has responded to his own news of catching the virus.
This news of the Thrashers testing positive comes just weeks after Florida State announced that the football program’s head coach Mike Norvell tested positive for the virus. The Washington Post explains that like President Thrasher, Norvell has been getting tested two to three times a week in the past few months. In his statement, Norvell explained that his result was “surprising,” but nonetheless, the program had extensive preparations and protocols in the event that a player or member of staff were to test positive. Thankfully, Norvell has fully recovered and is back to in-person coaching.
Although two Florida State icons testing positive for COVID-19 is alarming, the on-campus cases have began to trend downwards since the spike in the beginning of September. According to Stay Healthy FSU, the on-campus coronavirus statistics show that out of 22,046 tests, only 1,532 students and employees have tested positive since Aug. 2. This trend downwards means that since early September, the positivity rate has dropped to about two percent. In total though, since the start of testing at the University, the positivity rate for cases is at 6.95 percent, according to Stay Healthy FSU.
As the campus cases are beginning to decline, FSU is still continuing their available testing for students and faculty until further notice. President Thrasher continues to urge students and staff to follow all of the guidelines put in place to ensure everyone’s safety.
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