The University of Notre Dame announced Tuesday that seven football players had tested positive for coronavirus out of 94 tests conducted Monday, forcing the school to postpone its game Saturday at Wake Forest.
Combined with testing results from last week, 13 Notre Dame players are in isolation, with 10 in quarantine. As a result, Notre Dame has paused all football-related activities.
"With student-athlete health and safety our primary focus, we will continue to follow our prevention protocols and ongoing testing procedures," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said in a statement, as reported by ESPN. "We managed an increase in positivity rates in August, and the players handled it wonderfully.
"We knew COVID would present challenges throughout the season, and we'll always put student-athlete health and safety at the forefront of our decision-making. We look forward to resuming team activities and getting back on the playing field."
Wake Forest athletic director John Currie said in a statement that Oct. 3 — an open date for both schools — is the likely reschedule date.
"I know everyone involved is saddened to be unable to play this weekend, but based on the circumstances, it is the right decision," Currie said. "We are already discussing options for rescheduling with the ACC and our future opponents, including the possibility of playing on the Oct. 3 weekend."
As reported by ESPN, this is not the first time this season the Irish have had to pause practices. They also paused for three days last month after five positive results during two rounds of testing.
This is now the fourth ACC game impacted because of coronavirus issues.
