Florida Gators Football Reports No New COVID-19 Cases
Ahead of week five, or week two of SEC action, however you prefer to look at it: The Florida Gators have reported no new COVID-19 cases among the football team and only two across the entire athletics department since last weeks update, with test results through Monday, September 28th.
Below, you can find Florida's entire testing update since athletes began returning to campus on May 26th.
Since Athletes Returned to Campus on May 26th
Total tests on campus: 2,470
Total positives on campus: 112
Total tests for September: 1434
Total positives for September: 78
Since Football Athletes Returned to Campus on May 26 th
Total tests on campus: 1273
Total positives on campus: 31
Total tests for September: 788
Total positives for September: 10
In September 22nd's update, it was clear that UF had slowed down the spread of a mid-September outbreak across the athletic department, shortly following the beginning of the fall semester. On September 14th, Florida postponed its season-opening soccer game after three cases caused widespread quarantines across the roster, while lacrosse and baseball activities were paused shortly following given a mass amount of COVID-19 cases.
Football activities were never put on hold, and Florida was able to successfully play its first game against Ole Miss this past Saturday. However, 13 players were ruled out of the game before kickoff, including defensive tackle Kyree Campbell, BUCK rush end Jeremiah Moon, safety Brad Stewart Jr., and others. Swamp247 reports that at least one player missed Saturday's game due to protective measures pertaining to COVID-19.
Following the Gators' 51-35 victory over the Rebels, quarterback Kyle Trask and tight end Kyle Pitts both said on Monday that celebrating after wins will test the team's maturity in the age of COVID-19. "That's just one of the messages being spread around the team," Trask said. "In order for us to keep playing, we have to do our part and just, you know, staying at home and making sure we're ready to go each game day."
We'll see if individual players can hold up to their end of the bargain as the season goes on. It's early, but so far, Florida appears to be trending back in the right direction.
