13 members of Boston College’s swim and dive team have tested positive for coronavirus. Here’s what you should know.
How the team was exposed to the virus was unclear Thursday morning.
The Boston College women’s and men’s swimming and diving team has suspended its practices after at least 13 members tested positive for coronavirus.
“We can confirm that members of our swimming and diving team have tested positive for COVID-19,” Jason Baum, the college’s senior associate athletics director for communications, told The Boston Globe, which reported the outbreak Thursday. “We have temporarily paused all team activities with the swimming and diving program. The student-athletes who tested positive are in isolation in accordance with university COVID-19 protocols.”
While the college declined to tell the newspaper how many students on sports teams have contracted the virus, the school’s website indicated 41 undergraduate students and two others have so far tested positive.
Thirty undergraduate students were in isolation as of Tuesday, with 10 in isolation housing and 20 recovering at home, according to the website. The institution conducted 22,239 tests between Aug. 16 and Sept. 6.
A person connected to the swimming and diving team told the Globe about the positive cases within the program. The roster includes 41 members from 17 states and Canada.
The college plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference — among the few conferences that have opted to compete during the COVID-19 crisis.
Here’s what to know:
It’s unclear how the team was exposed to the virus.
According to the Globe, it was unclear Thursday how the swimming and diving team was exposed to the coronavirus.
A small group of team members became sick on Monday, with more following on Tuesday and Wednesday, totaling 13, the Globe’s source told the newspaper.
No practices have been held since Monday, and many members are now quarantining inside a hotel, the person said.
The school has so far acknowledged that one football player tested positive for the virus in June, but has not provided further details about the cluster of cases on the swimming and diving team.
The program has yet to set its schedule for the season.
Baum told the Globe the program has not yet developed a schedule for its swimming and diving program. So far, the team has only held workout sessions.
Still, any season will definitely be unusual for Boston College. Many of its would-be competitors have opted out amid the pandemic, while Northeastern University has not yet decided if it will delay the start of its season and Boston University has not finalized a schedule, although the latter has begun its practice regimen, according to the newspaper.
Boston College receives approximately $30 million annually from its ACC affiliation, the Globe reports. The school’s football team is set to kick off the season against Duke in Durham, North Carolina on Sept. 19. The field hockey, women’s soccer, and volleyball teams are also slated to play complete seasons.
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