Indiana athletics has paused voluntary football workouts after six members of the team tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
IU is not the first program to have to suspend workouts in the Big Ten, because both Ohio State and Maryland have done the same following positive tests. At the same time, it is a setback for IU following a month of more promising test results.
In its first round of testing — after football and men’s and women’s basketball returned to campus in mid-June — IU had zero positive tests out of 187. The department’s second round of tests, announced just a week ago, yielded four positives out of another batch of 112 tests.
Now there are an additional six positives from this past week, which has forced IU to halt football workouts. In a news release, IU said the shutdown will not affect other sports currently holding voluntary workouts, including men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball and field hockey.
IU did not specify how many individuals total were tested this past week to yield the six positives in football. As was the case in IU’s last release about positive COVID results, it was stressed that all workouts remain voluntary and that individuals who have tested positive have been quarantined.
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