Penn State Reports 50 New COVID-19 Cases Among Student-Athletes
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (CBS) -- Fifty more student-athletes at Penn State University tested positive for the coronavirus for the testing period of Sept. 5-11, the college announced Wednesday in its weekly COVID-19 report. Penn State administered 859 tests last week with roughly 5.8% of them coming back positive.
The college said its athletics reporting numbers are included in its dashboard.
This comes one week after the university paused "several programs" after reporting 48 new COVID-19 cases for the week of Aug. 31-Sept. 4. Last week, Penn State didn't reveal which programs were affected.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten announced Wednesday its Return to Play plan for football. The conference's football season is slated to begin during the weekend of Oct. 23-24.
It's unknown if any of the 50 new COVID-19 cases at PSU are in the football program.
All student-athletes, coaches, trainers and other individuals that are on the field for practices and games will have to undergo daily testing for COVID-19.
All test results must be completed and recorded prior to each practice or game.
Anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus through the point of contact testing must receive a polymerase chain reaction test to confirm the positive result.
The earliest a student-athlete can return to team activities after receiving a positive COVID-19 test is 21 days. Any student-athlete who tests positive for COVID-19 will also undergo comprehensive cardiac testing and receive clearance before returning to practices or games.
Each Big Ten institution will have a Chief Infection Officer to handle the collection and report the data for the Big Ten Conference. The Chief Infection Officer will also make decisions regarding the continuation or practice or games, based on the team's positivity rate and population positive rate given a seven-day rolling average.
Daily testing will begin on Sept. 30.
The scheduling plan is to have each team play an eight-game season.
Penn State's athletic director says fans will not be allowed in the stands.