A college sports team can take every precaution against the spread of coronavirus, but what college student-athletes do in their free time is harder to control. This has been a main concern as campuses reopen to fall sports participants.
Rutgers, one of two Big Ten Conference members to place its entire football team under quarantine late last week, has traced its outbreak to an on-campus party attended by student-athletes from several Scarlet Knights sports programs.
A college sports team can take every precaution against the spread of coronavirus, but what college student-athletes do in their free time is harder to control. This has been a main concern as campuses reopen to fall sports participants.
Rutgers, one of two Big Ten Conference members to place its entire football team under quarantine late last week, has traced its outbreak to an on-campus party attended by student-athletes from several Scarlet Knights sports programs.
Related: Rutgers, Michigan State Football Teams in Quarantine
As of this writing, 15 Rutgers football players had tested positive for COVID-19. The entire team was placed under quarantine Saturday, with the announcement of 10 new cases — six players and four additional program personnel.
According to Sports Illustrated, which cited an nj.com report, Judith Persichilli, the New Jersey health commissioner, acknowledged “several circumstances where indoor and outdoor gatherings in our state have led to community clusters of COVID-19" during a news briefing Wednesday, and included Rutgers among other known parties that have caused COVID-19 outbreaks.
“There’s been an outbreak of Rutgers football players, with 15 of them currently testing positive,’' Persichilli said.
