Ninety-one Notre Dame football student athletes were tested for COVID-19 Monday, and of those 91 tested so far, one has tested positive, according to a statement released Monday. The athlete is not being named at this time.
The athlete is asymptomatic and self-isolating and his parents have been informed. Additionally, through contact tracing, four football student athletes are in self-quarantine. Fifty staff members including coaches, athletic trainers and student staff were also tested and all tested negative. Of the football players tested, four tested positive for the COVID-19 antibody, meaning they had previously been exposed to the disease but have since recovered.
Clemson reported Friday they conducted 315 tests on students athletes and staff members and had 28 positive results. Twenty-three football players tested positive.
This news also comes as the University is already bracing for a $100 million dollar loss in the next fiscal year. University President Father John Jenkins mentioned athletics in his opinion piece in the New York Times a month ago.
“Athletic competition presents another set of challenges,” Jenkins said. “We believe we can, with aggressive testing, hygiene and careful monitoring, keep student-athletes safe. Indeed, keeping healthy relatively small cadres of student-athletes, coaches and support staff members is a less daunting challenge than keeping safe the several thousand other people in the campus community.”
