USC will pause football workouts until at least Monday due to positive tests for COVID-19, the school announced.
The school’s weekly surveillance testing program recorded eight positive tests between the football team and men’s water polo team, which also will suspend activities.
“All eight student-athletes have been isolated,” the school said in a statement. “It is clear from contact tracing that the virus was contracted off campus as a result of increased community spread and not via any on-campus or training activities.”
Before Wednesday’s announcement, USC had reported eight other positive tests for COVID-19 since it began testing athletes in mid-June, with just one of those occurring since July 18.
“We have effective mitigation strategies in place,” said USC athletic director Mike Bohn, “but out of an abundance of caution we are pausing athletics activities in football and men’s water polo while we await additional test results and USC completes the contact tracing process.”
The Pac-12 CEO group voted earlier this month to postpone the conference’s fall sports competitions through the end of the calendar year because of health concerns and uncertainties related to the coronavirus pandemic. Athletes still are permitted to work out in small groups.