Northwestern suspends football activities after player tests positive for coronavirusMadeline Kenneyon August 3, 2020 at 9:41 pm

Northwestern has halted football workouts after a player tested positive for COVID-19.

The university tweeted a statement Monday saying the university “medical staff will implement the University’s rigorous contact tracing and quarantine protocols.”

The player is isolating and several teammates are quarantining, the school said Monday. The team’s most recent workout was Friday. The next one will be Wednesday at the earliest.

Northwestern’s news comes shortly after Illinois’ athletic department announced it has recorded 23 positive COVID-19 test results since players started arriving on campus for voluntary team activities in early June.

The football team’s more than 100 football players have accounted for greater than 75% of the athletic department’s positive tests, the university said, though it’s unclear the exact number of players the virus has infected.

A vast majority of the players who have tested positive have since recovered as only three cases remain active, the athletic department said.

As part of its coronavirus protocol, Illinois said it’s testing the 164 student-athletes who are currently on campus at least weekly and has administered more than 1,200 tests.

Other Big Ten programs — Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Rutgers and Maryland — have suspended practices at some point because of coronavirus concerns.

College football conferences have already made several changes this year because of the pandemic. The Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC will play only conference schedules. The ACC will play an 11-game schedule with 10 league games. Notre Dame will participate as a full football member of the ACC this year.

This weekend, a group of Pac-12 players said they would sit out practices and games if their universities don’t provide adequate COVID-19 protections.

Other smaller conferences, including the Ivy League, have canceled all fall sports.

Contributing: Associated Press

Read More