COVID-19: Cal Athletics Reports Just One New Positive Among 358 Tests

Cal and the Pac-12 still will not stage fall sports competition due to the virus

There are no fall sports on the horizon in the Pac-12 Conference, but the results of Cal’s latest COVID-19 testing of athletes are again encouraging.

Cal athletics reports that among 358 athletes given PRC tests over the past three weeks only one recorded a positive. That’s an impressive positive rate of just 0.3 percent.

Since testing of athletes began in June, Cal has done 908 tests with 11 positives for a positive rate of 1.2 percent. But over the past two testing periods, spanning six weeks, just three of 658 results were positive, or less than one-half of one percent.

Cal does not release sport-specific numbers due to privacy issues.

Results include athletes who undergo repeat tests.

Cal athletes continue to train on a voluntary basis, outdoors only and in cohorts of 12 of fewer, in accordance with restrictions set by public health officials and Berkeley and Alameda County.

On Aug. 11, the Pac-12 announced that all fall sports, including football, would be postponed due to the coronavirus. None have yet been rescheduled for the spring.

Berkeley News, the university’s online news site, reported recently that cases on and off campus surged as students began returning this summer. There were 47 positive test results during one week, the site said. Berkeleyside reports that there have been a total of 141 positives, with a positivity rate of 2.01 percent, among UC Berkeley community members.

Instruction at Cal began Wednesday, although most classes currently are being conducted remotely.

Numbers elsewhere in the country haven’t always been as good as Cal’s reported results. A New York Times survey of more than 1,500 American universities published Wednesday shows at least 26,000 cases and 64 deaths since the pandemic began: 

— The University of Alabama reported on Monday that 550 people across its campuses, including students, faculty and staff, have tested positive, according to NPR.

— USC put more than 100 students into 14-day quarantine after being exposed to the virus, Fox News said.

— Arizona State officials confirmed 161 cases on and off campus between students and staff, ABC-15 reported on Tuesday. 

— Ohio State issued 228 interim suspensions of students after a series of large parties where health and safety guidelines reportedly were ignored, CNN reported.

— At North Carolina, the Daily Tar Heel reported Monday there were 465 positives among 1,528 tests given between Aug. 17 and 23, a startling 31.3 percent positivity rate.

— North Carolina State University officials have instructed students to leave on-campus housing after an outbreak of more than 100 cases, according to WRAL.

— Missouri had at least 159 students test positive on the first day of classes, the Kansas City Star reported on Tuesday.

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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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