Several UCLA Football Players Test Positive For Coronavirus
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Several University of California Los Angeles football players have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the L.A. County Department of Public Health announced Wednesday.
According to Dr. Barbara Ferrer, county public health director, said at least eight players tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to the Westwood campus. Ferrer said the players were all isolating and anyone who had been in close contact with the affected players will be tested.
The Bruins are scheduled to kick off their season against the Trojans at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 26, but the game could be delayed if necessary.
"At UCLA, we've seen a number of football players who returned to campus and tested positive," Ferrer said. "Given that this virus has reached every single part of the country and will be an unwelcome visitor hitching a ride with students as they return to our campuses, we need to be very vigilant on how we reopen."
UCLA Athletics released a statement Wednesday even that stated any community member who tested positive for COVID-19 would "immediately go into isolation for 10 days from the date of the test." The department further said that anyone deemed to have been in close contact with a person who tested positive would have to quarantine for 14 days from the date of last contact.
"UCLA Athletics currently has no student-athletes in isolation or close contact quarantine," the statement said.
Also on Wednesday, the NCAA stated that student athletes must be allowed to opt out of the season and their scholarships must be honored — demands made by the Pac-12 unity group on Sunday — and the NCAA Division 2 and Division 3 both announced that they had canceled their fall championships due to concerns about the pandemic.