Penn State Athletics has reported its first positive COVID-19 test, on Thursday following a positive result linked to the 16802 area code on Wednesday.
‘Wednesday’s positive report….is the first positive report involving an Intercollegiate Athletics student-athlete,’ a Penn State spokesperson said in a statement. ‘Full testing numbers will be shared in the Intercollegiate Athletic Department’s next bi-weekly report on Wednesday, July 29. Moving forward, all ICA test results, including positives, will only be reported on a bi-weekly basis.’
The university did not release any specific information regarding the sport or whether or not the student-athlete was symptomatic.
Last week was the most recent release of Penn State Athletics’ testing numbers. At that time Penn State has conducted a total of 178 COVID-19 tests of student-athletes with 0 positive results and 31 pending.
As of Wednesday, Centre County has had 299 cases of COVID-19 since the first was reported on March 20. This is the first case reported for the University Park’s 16802 zip code.
Student-athletes are tested upon their return to campus and again if they were later to show symptoms of COVID-19. The athletic department plans to release testing results every-other week until the student body has fully returned to campus.
Penn State began its third phase of student-athlete returns on June 29, including the men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball teams. The Nittany Lion football team is largely on campus while men’s and women’s basketball have also returned.
‘The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the broader community are of the utmost importance,’ Penn State said in a statement.
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 put into 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 exposed, even if asymptomatic.’
