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This week doesn’t get any more normal… for the 49ers. Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, appears to have been a case of a false positive, having tested negative on his following test, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco.
What does this mean for Thursday’s game against the Green Bay Packers? Nothing. He and the three other close contacts who live with Bourne — Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams — will remain on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list.
It is looking as if #49ers WR Kendrick Bourne’s test from yesterday was a false positive, according to source close to him. He and three others who live with him have all tested negative. Still, he, Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams must remain on COVID-19 list today.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) November 5, 2020
However, it may not be a false positive, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. According to Rapoport, when a player does test positive and then negative, they prove to be a legitimate positive 98 percent of the time. In other words, Bourne’s negative test could just as easily, and in fact is far more likely to be a false negative than a false positive, per those statistics.
#49ers WR Kendrick Bourne, who tested positive for COVID-19, was negative on his last test, source said. That doesn’t mean it was a false positive. In fact, this has happened plenty of times before in the NFL and 98% of the time, players have been proven to be positive.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 5, 2020
There have been no indications Thursday’s game won’t proceed as schedule, meaning the 49ers’ receiving corps will be composed of Trent Taylor, Richie James Jr. (who was limited with an ankle sprain) and practice squad players, after the team cut Dante Pettis. Kevin White, who has used his two allotted practice squad activations, seems likely to be promoted to the active roster, while River Cracraft was activated last week. Chris Finke is the only other receiving option on the practice squad.
