Two nearby schools in the Triangle have released their first round of coronavirus testing numbers.
At UNC, the school announced 37 positive tests among student-athletes, coaches and athletics department staff on July 8. The school administered 429 total tests.
“As a precaution, our football team will pause voluntary workouts for at least a week and will resume at a date to be determined,” the school said in a release.
In accordance with school protocol, those who tested positive will isolate for up to 14 days in either a campus residence hall specified by UNC (for student-athletes) or at their permanent residents (for coaches and department staffers).
At N.C. State, the school announced five positive tests among student-athletes, coaches and athletics department staff on July 9. The school administered 315 total tests.
Those five people went into isolation, following school and CDC guidelines.
Duke began a phased return to campus for its student-athletes — similar to the ones UNC and N.C. State have already started — on July 12.
“Upon arrival to campus, all student-athletes will be tested for COVID-19 and will be required to follow health and hygiene protocols established by Duke and national medical experts,” the school said in a release. “These measures are consistent with the procedures for all Duke undergraduate students.”
Plenty of news emerged on the college front last week, as schools and conferences continue to evaluate the best and safest path forward for fall sports (especially football) during the coronavirus pandemic.
Most notably, two Power Five conferences — the Big Ten and the Pac-12 — announced they would shift to a conference-only schedule. The Ivy League, the Patriot League and the CIAA (which has seven teams in North Carolina) canceled fall athletics in full, keeping the option of spring competition open.
Close to home, ACC commissioner John Swofford announced the conference anticipates a decision on “the best possible path forward” by the end of the month. In the last week, the league also announced it wouldn’t resume fall Olympic sports until at least Sept. 1, and that it was delaying its now-virtual ACC Football Kickoff Media Days (scheduled for late July) indefinitely.
The NCHSAA had originally scheduled a dead period for the week of July 20 through 26 for the N.C. Coaches Association Clinic. But with that event canceled, the board of directors approved the elimination of that dead period.
Next week will mark the third of workouts for Northwood, Jordan-Matthews, Chatham Central and Woods Charter, each of which began on July 6. Chatham Charter has been holding workouts since June 15, the earliest date to do so.