It’s been a dizzying whirlwind the past week -- a domino effect of cancelations as the sports world adapted to the health crisis gripping our planet.

For Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne, that’s meant a consistent stream of meetings and conversations to organize efforts with staff members and coaches scattered instead of in a central office location.

Byrne spent almost 30 minutes Thursday answering questions from local reporters about the new realities brought on by the coronavirus.

First off, the health of athletes and coaches.

Has anyone tested positive for COVID-19?

“There are no student athletes at the University of Alabama that I am aware of,” Byrne said.

Byrne was cautious answering a question about how many athletes had been tested. Citing legal reasons, Byrne said he wasn’t comfortable discussing specifics.

“I’m not sure what I can and can’t share on that,” he said. “What I can tell you is we’ve communicated extensively with our student-athletes, our coaches, about steps they need to take to prevent (getting the virus), and if there are signs they have it on what they need to do and communicate with us. So our medical team, our coaches have been very proactive with the communication with our student-athletes on that. And that’s the approach we’ve taken. Obviously, if we feel that somebody needs to be tested, we’ll do everything in our powers and resources available to make that happen.”

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SEC commissioner Greg Sankey didn’t want to get specific when asked a similar question Wednesday about players in contact sports getting tested.

“Those questions are appropriately answered by local health and campus health officials, not by the conference office,” Sankey said.

The SEC commissioner said the league had been in contact with member schools since late January about this threat.

When did Alabama begin planning for the possibility of the coronavirus’ spread?

“I think the reality, as soon as you started hearing about it spread in different parts of the world, I think we started having those conversations,” Byrne said. “When that was, I don’t remember the exact timing. But that’s when we started talking about the realities that could happen and so that was early on when it spread within Asia and then started to spread into Europe and when there were the first reported cases in the United States.”

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Being spring break on campus, the traffic would already be down. That’s also true in the athletics facilities, coaching offices and meeting spaces.

That restriction to facilities will continue after the break.

“Yeah, there will be, and we’re working through the details on that right now,” Byrne said. “But it will be very limited on who has access to our buildings, and that’s for the health and well-being of our student-athletes and of our coaches. We’re working on details right now.”

Byrne was also asked about any possible light at the end of the tunnel. Now that things are shut down, what would it take to start opening things back up again?

“At this point, we’ve been very focused on where (the athletes) are right now and managing that,” Byrne said. “We really haven’t had any discussions about what it looks like to bring them back at this point. Because they’ve been dispersed on spring break, it’s been much more on where they are going once spring break is over and we’ve encouraged them to return home, if at all possible and be there. So, we’re in constant communication with our student athletes as we speak.”

The concerns move beyond just the athletes, coaches and staff members who work in the athletics department.

There are still event workers who won’t be able to work remotely. Professional athletes and teams have stepped up to assist those workers who depend on the games for their livelihood.

Has Alabama had similar conversations about their workers?

“We’ve had a little bit,” Byrne said. “That’s been one of the things we have discussed. We haven’t come up with a final plan on that at this point. Obviously, we have our softball and baseball games that were still ongoing. The majority of the largest events for us were already done for the year but we are trying to be cognizant and helpful where we can with our game day workers.”

Beyond the health and financial impact of this unprecedented shutdown is the human impact of sudden season cancelations. Alabama’s baseball team was off to a 16-1 start after years of disappointment while preseason No. 1 Crimson Tide softball was built for a late season run after early stumbles.

That’s all a wash now that the rest of the semester has been canceled.

Byrne said he’s taken time to recognize the pain that comes with that stunning end -- one that came with little warning. He cited a Twitter post from senior softball pitcher Sarah Cornell.

“You just,” Byrne said before a long pause, “you know, you feel for them. One of the things we sometimes forget, and I have to remember myself is physically you look at these kids and they’re so developed and are able to do things that must of us, including myself, we’re limited in our abilities. They’re doing their athletic activities at the highest levels. And the work and energy and effort that goes into that, to see that taken away from them, it’s heartbreaking.”

I’m just going to sit here for awhile pic.twitter.com/SScXCdyF6E — Sarah Cornell (@Cornball) March 13, 2020

There just weren’t options when the spring seasons went on the chopping block.

“But you balance that with the reality that our of where we are as a country and the world with this crisis,” Byrne said. “We understand it’s certainly not as important, but if you don’t have empathy or sympathy for what so quickly came to an end for so many of them, I don’t know how you don’t. I think people, especially your Alabama fans or Alabama student-athletes have been very compassionate about it, and you try to support one another. I know that’s the case around the country.”

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.