Two people associated with the University of Vermont’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have tested positive for Covid-19, the university announced Tuesday.
The university did not specify if the people were players, coaches or staff.
The teams restarted team activity July 20, with daily symptom monitoring, regular testing and a gradual return to training starting with small-group, non-contact activity, according to the university.
The two people who tested positive were asymptomatic and were isolated following their positive tests, and one remains active. All of the players met the state’s quarantine requirement before starting practice, the university said.
“Thorough contact tracing has taken place. Individuals who had close contact have been notified and are quarantining per current public health guidelines,” the university’s press release states. “The men’s basketball team is currently on a training pause and pending further test results is scheduled to resume activity next week.”
A total of 75 tests have been administered to athletes, coaches and staff since the teams arrived back to campus, the university said.
A March 10 UVM men’s basketball game was a spreader event, with at least 20 attendees of that game catching the virus, at least three of whom later died from it.
The announcement comes amid growing concern about the return of college students to Burlington. The university announced last week that all students returning to campus will be tested for Covid-19 before doing so and said that it would provide weekly testing for the first three weeks of the semester.
While the university has laid out guidelines for students to try to ensure social distancing, students themselves are skeptical that those guidelines will be followed.
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