Michigan Athletics Pausing for 2 Weeks, Likely Will Postpone Indiana's Game on Jan. 30

The Michigan state health determined has put the entire athletic department at the University of Michigan on pause for two weeks, which will knock out a Jan. 30 game with Indiana.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The University of Michigan is putting its entire athletic program on a department-wide pause due to a new COVID-19 variant on the UM campus.

The Indiana men's basketball team is scheduled to compete against Michigan on Jan. 30 in Ann Arbor, but that game will likely be postponed now.

Michigan's athletic department put out a release saying, "No determination has been made on how the pause may impact scheduled games beyond Feb. 7," so it appears after the Hoosiers compete Sunday against Rutgers, they won't be playing again until Feb. 2 against Illinois. It is possible that the Big Ten may juggle the schedule, which they did two weeks ago.

A source told The Michigan Daily student newspaper that there were five confirmed cases of the new variant, with 15 more presumed positives throughout the athletic department. The novel strain was first introduced at the beginning of the semester by a U-M athlete travelling from the United Kingdom. All members of the athletic department are expected to quarantine for 14 days.

David Jesse of the Detroit Free Press tweeted that he was told by a source that there were no positive tests Saturday for any of the basketball or hockey athletes. He also reminded readers that it was the state that shut down the athletic department, not the school itself. 

I’m told from a reliable source there are no positive tests from basketball - men and women teams and no positive results from hockey. State made determination to shut down entire U-M athletic department.

— David Jesse (@reporterdavidj) January 24, 2021

Michigan's men's basketball team played at Purdue on Friday just one day after Boilermakers guard Sasha Stefanovic tested positive for COVID-19, but the two events have nothing to do with each other.

This pause seems like it will only affect Indiana's men's basketball program. The women's basketball team doesn't play Michigan until Feb. 18, wrestling already competed against Michigan, and volleyball won't play the Wolverines until March 13.

Below is the full press release from Michigan athletics:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Under a Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) decision made Saturday (Jan. 23), the University of Michigan Athletic Department will immediately pause athletic activities in all sports, including games, team and individual training sessions, until further notice and up to 14 days.

While U-M has worked diligently on testing and reporting within state and Big Ten Conference guidelines, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is mandating a more aggressive strategy for this B.1.1.7 variant, which exceeds current program efforts designed around the standard form of the virus.

The mandate follows positive test results for the SAR-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant virus infections from several individuals linked to the U-M Athletic Department through its diligent testing regiment. The B.1.1.7 variant is thought to be approximately 50 percent more transmissible than the standard form of the virus, leading to faster spread of the virus, potentially increased numbers of cases, and additional hospitalizations and deaths. Therefore, a pause of all athletic activities and a closure of all U-M athletic facilities are being taken to strengthen the public health intervention. Team members (student-athletes, coaches, and team staff) must immediately isolate/quarantine effective Jan. 23 until further notice and up to 14 days (Feb. 7).

"Canceling competitions is never something we want to do, but with so many unknowns about this variant of COVID-19, we must do everything we can to minimize the spread among student-athletes, coaches, staff, and to the student-athletes at other schools," said , the Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics.

University public health officials are working closely with the Washtenaw County Health Department and Michigan Department of Human Health Services on additional mitigation strategies to address the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant in the university community. The university will be carefully considering additional mitigation measures. There are many unknowns that remain under investigation by U-M, local and state public health officials.

No determination has been made on how the pause may impact scheduled games beyond Feb. 7.