Florida baseball, lacrosse teams hit ‘pause’ after jump in COVID-19 cases

A sign on top of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images, Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A significant number of University of Florida athletes have tested positive for COVID-19, leading the school to “pause all athletic activity” for baseball and lacrosse.

The University Athletic Association announced on Tuesday that lacrosse had 31 positive cases and baseball had reported 15. Athletes who have tested positive, along with their coaches, will follow quarantine guidelines until they are cleared by health officials, the school said in a release.

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It was a massive increase in what had been relatively low numbers of COVID-19 positive cases at Florida. In August, the school said it had just one positive test out of 687 athletes tested. Through the first week of September, the Gators had seven positive cases out of 191 tests.

Since football athletes returned to campus in late May, those players have had 28 positive tests. Seven of those have been this month. Among other sports, 103 positive tests have come back among 1,564 tests, the university said.


About the Author:

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.