North Carolina’s football program has shut down voluntary activities after the county’s health department identified the campus as a “cluster” for Covid-19. The school announced Wednesday that 37 people within Tar Heels athletics — coaches, staff and student-athletes — tested positive for the virus.
The school announced that it has tested 429 people in its return to campus plan, which began on June 12 for coaches and athletes.
The football program will shut down voluntary workouts for at least a week, according to the release.
The school said all those who tested positive and anyone they’d contacted will quarantine for at least 14 days at home or in a campus residence hall specified by the school.
The Orange County Heath Department defined the area as a “cluster,” which applies to any space where five or more positive cases are found.
The school had instructed student-athletes to isolate outside of football activities and to wear a mask within the football facilities and in public, according to its return to campus guidelines. Those guidelines also state that all student-athletes must have tested negative before they were initially allowed to begin on-campus activities, with follow-up testing after one week or upon showing symptoms.