After Clemson athletics announced that 28 athletes and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 this month, multiple media outlets reported that the majority of those positive tests came from the football program.
Both ESPN and The Athletic reported that 23 football players tested positive. ESPN added that two football staff members had the virus.
In all, 315 student-athletes and athletic staffers received tests in the past week. ESPN reported that two of the positive cases among football players and one of a men’s basketball player occurred last week, part of 169 tests conducted that week.
The NCAA allowed schools to open facilities on campus for voluntary workouts beginning June 1, so long as the schools followed safety guidelines.
According to Clemson, those who tested positive will be isolated for 10 days, and anyone with recent contact with those who tested positive will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. The school also said that most of the cases were asymptomatic and none of those who tested positive required hospitalization.
Clemson is not alone in seeing multiple people test positive shortly after returning to campus.
Iowa State, Houston, Oklahoma State, Texas, Alabama and Ole Miss are among the other schools to see student-athletes test positive in recent weeks.
Some schools are requiring student-athletes to sign pledges or waivers before they are allowed back to campus. Ohio State, for example, had football players sign a document that included a waiver accepting the risk of possible exposure to the coronavirus and a vow that the player will follow health and safety protocols and agree to quarantine should they become ill or test positive for COVID-19.