Florida Gators Football Continues to Fend Off COVID-19
As head coach Dan Mullen acknowledged in a Zoom media call earlier in the day, the Florida Gators football team continues to fend off the coronavirus after a flare-up began in late June.
"We’re still at zero positive tests since early July," Mullen said on Monday. "When we send guys away, maybe there’s issues. The more we send them away, the more probably nerve-racking it gets for us. But our guys have done a great job of making decisions, taking care of themselves."
The University of Florida Athletic Association released its most up-to-date (August 24th) COVID-19 testing data among student-athletes since the return to campus began on May 26th. A total of 809 tests have been administered on student-athletes of all sports on campus, with 35 positive results. 479 of those tests have been done in August, returning one positive.
Athletic director Scott Stricklin acknowledged 29 positive tests on July 14th, up from Sports Illustrated-AllGators' report of 11 initial cases of coronavirus within UF's athletic program on June 23rd. Meaning, the entire sports program has seen only six positive results over the past 42 days.
The Gators football team has not had a positive test result this month, after conducting 197 tests. There have been 21 positive results among the football team since May 26th, across 359 tests.
"We gotta be smart in our decision making, we gotta be smart in what we do," said Mullen. "We kinda - to me - control our own future. We've shown that playing football's safe, that's what we've shown. So, that part of it. Now, we gotta make smart decisions on what we're doing - not doing - when we're doing more than football.
The Gators are scheduled to kick off their 2020 season against Ole Miss, in Oxford, Miss., on September 26th.
