Penn State athletics sets single-round high for COVID-19 cases with 50 new positives
Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics released its ninth round of COVID-19 test results Wednesday, reporting 50 new positives out of 859 tests conducted from Sept. 5-11.
Wednesday’s results again set the mark for the largest number of positive test results for a single round in the department. Last week, Penn State announced it had paused team activities for “several programs” after its eighth round of COVID-19 test results revealed 48 new positives out of 920 tests.
The Nittany Lions had previously reported 59 total positives out of 2,193 tests conducted through their first eight rounds of testing. Penn State began testing athletes upon their return to campus June 8.
As part of protocols established in Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics’ return to campus plan, athletes who test positive are put into isolation for 14 days before being retested. Contact tracing procedures have also been implemented, “which includes quarantine and testing for those individuals who might have been determined to be close contacts of positive individuals, even if asymptomatic,” according to Penn State.
Earlier Wednesday, the Big Ten announced it would return to play football this fall with plans to start its season the weekend of Oct. 23-24.
