Penn State pauses some team activities due to coronavirus outbreak

Greg Pickel of Penn Live confirmed on Wednesday that Penn State has temporarily paused team activities for "several" athletics programs due to the discovery of positive coronavirus cases. The school didn't announce which sports reported positive tests or which programs were impacted by today's development. 

From Aug. 31 through Sept. 4, at least 48 student-athletes tested positive for the virus. A news release from the university read: 

"These results represent a 5.0 percent positivity rate for Penn State Athletics and have set in motion many of our established protocols. Based on these results and out of an abundance of caution, Penn State Athletics has paused team activities for several programs and initiated standard isolation and precautionary quarantine. Contact tracing is being performed and there is no evidence to suggest COVID-19 was transmitted during practice or training activities.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the broader community are of the utmost importance. Therefore, as part of the protocols established in the return to campus plan by the Penn State Athletics medical staff and in consultation with University, local and national officials and guidelines, individuals with a positive test have been assigned to isolation for 14 days and will be retested at that point.

“In addition to isolation, contact tracing procedures have been implemented, which includes quarantine and testing for those individuals who might have been determined to be close contacts of positive individuals, even if asymptomatic.”

Per Heather Dinich of ESPN, the statement added: 

"We expect our student-athletes and staff to follow University requirements and guidelines for limiting the spread of COVID-19, including wearing masks, practicing social distancing, washing their hands regularly and not gathering in large groups."

Penn State football and other sports were postponed when the Big Ten and Pac-12 canceled fall calendars on Aug. 11 because of the ongoing health crisis.