On Thursday, the University of Texas athletics department announced that 13 football players have been confirmed positive for the coronavirus, or are presumed positive, ESPN and other outlets reported.
“Including two reported from initial surveillance testing last week, as of Thursday, Texas Athletics has had 13 total Football student-athletes who have confirmed positive, Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for Sports Medicine & Performance Allen Hardin said,” the statement from the university read. “All 13 are now self-isolating.”
Ten more players are in self-quarantine after contact tracing, the statement reads, and four football players have tested positive for the COVID-19 antibody.
The names of the players who tested positive have not been released, KVUE reported.
Earlier this week, Big 12 teams were cleared to start voluntary workouts. On Tuesday, Baylor University, whose football team is scheduled to begin its season on Sept. 6, announced that three athletes tested positive for COVID-19, KWTX reported. Fifty-nine students were tested, Baylor said, and all resided off campus.
Two of the three positive students were asymptomatic.
Texas did not reveal how many of its 13 players are experiencing symptoms.
On Wednesday, four major college games were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, The New York Times reported:
— Southern vs. Tennessee State in Detroit on Sept. 5;
— Jackson State vs. Tennessee State in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sept. 12;
— Southern’s home game against Florida A&M on Sept. 12;
— Jackson State’s home game against Lansgston on Sept. 5.
Langston and other NAIA schools have been prohibited from playing before Sept. 12, the Times reports.
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