Kansas Suspends Workouts After 12 Players Test Positive for COVID-19
Kansas has suspended voluntary workouts after increased coronavirus cases in the Jayhawks' program.
The university suggests all players and coaches should self-quarantine for 14 days given the recent spike in the program and the surrounding community. Once the quarantine period is over, student athletes and staff "will be retested to determine whether conditioning activities will resume at that time."
After testing 164 student athletes, 16 people have tested positive, with 12 of those being football players. A total of 45 athletes are currently in quarantine.
"After the increase in positive COVID-19 tests within our football program, our medical team at Kansas Team Health has recommended discontinuing voluntary workouts immediately. Our priority remains to keep our student-athletes safe and healthy, especially during this pandemic and will follow the recommendations of our medical professionals," director of athletics Jeff Long said in a statement.
Kansas said all other sports that have returned to campus will continue their voluntary workouts at this time. If positive tests increase, the school will follow recommendations from health officials and suspend additional sports activities as needed.
This week, the state of Kansas has reported 1,459 new coronavirus cases.
As college football teams return to campuses, some teams have seen high numbers of athletes testing positive for COVID-19, although many are asymptomatic. Earlier this month, Houston suspended all voluntary workouts for football and men's and women's basketball after six students tested positive. Clemson's football program has recorded 37 coronavirus cases over the past month. As of last Friday, the school's athletic program had a total of 47 positive results after conducting 430 tests since June 1.