Three members of the UCF Football team have tested positive for the coronavirus, UCF Athletics said on Tuesday.
Members of the team were brought back to campus starting the first week in June after the NCAA voted to allow voluntary athletic activity.
Two additional phases of student-athletes from the football team are expected to return to campus — one phase of about 20 individuals later in June, and a third phase at an undetermined date after that, UCF Athletics said on May 29.
“The three individuals who tested positive are in isolation for two weeks,” the release states. “The isolated student-athletes are monitored daily via wellness checks, and they receive contactless meal deliveries. The cases have been reported to the Orange County Health Department.”
“Our top priority is to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes,” UCF Director of Athletics Danny White said. “We will do everything necessary to support the student-athletes under our care on campus.
The release states contact tracing is underway and the Florida Department of Health is providing additional direction on follow-up for those in close contact.
“Our plan and protocols are working,” White said. “We will continue working through our medical processes, as this initial testing phase allows us to respond appropriately.”
The student-athletes are under the care of the UCF Athletics COVID-19 medical team led by Dr. Michael Jablonski, the medical director for UCF Athletics and president of Jewett Orthopaedic Clinic.
UCF Director of Sports Medicine Mary Vander Heiden — who serves as the football team’s head athletic trainer and UCF’s representative on the the American Athletic Conference’s COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group — will assist Jablonski in addressing any medical concerns, along with the support of the Orlando Health specialists in public health and infectious disease and the full UCF Sports Medicine staff, the release states.
“These results are not surprising given the number of tests that were performed and the different areas and regions these players are coming from,” Jablonski said in the release. “It confirms the importance of the protocols that have been established through the work of multiple medical experts.”
UCF Athletics is working closely with the student-athletes and the university’s medical staff to monitor the individuals’ health and determine the best treatment, the release states.
The release states members on the team who tested positive for COVID-19 will not participate in any UCF workouts until the quarantine period expires and are retested and get a negative result.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
