University Southern California Trojans
USC Football, Men’s Water Polo Workouts Remain Paused Until Sept. 8
August 31, 2020 | Football, USC Athletics, Men's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES — Workouts in football and men's water polo at USC will continue to be paused until at least Sept. 8 pending the results of two additional full rounds of COVID-19 testing today (Aug. 31) and this Friday (Sept. 4).
One additional student-athlete in those sports tested positive for COVID-19 in the round of testing conducted last Friday (Aug. 28).
Workouts in those sports were paused last Wednesday (Aug. 26) after eight football and men's water polo student-athletes tested positive.
All student-athletes who tested positive were isolated. Contact tracing indicates that the virus was contracted off campus as a result of increased community spread and not via any on-campus or training activities. The risk of exposure by any coaches, staff, and other student-athletes is very low. Per current Pac-12 Conference and public health guidelines, all USC workouts are outdoors and non-contact.
USC will now conduct COVID-19 testing of all student-athletes twice weekly. USC Athletics will continue its stringent required daily mitigation protocols for all student-athletes who currently work out on campus, including completing symptom questionnaires, undergoing temperature checks, wearing face coverings, practicing physical distancing and sanitizing hands.
Workouts in USC's other Phase 1, 2 and 3 sports of men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball and women's soccer have not been affected and continue as planned.
In its announcement of test results as of Aug. 28, USC had conducted 1,127 tests since testing began in mid-June on student-athletes who are participating in on-campus outdoor non-contact workouts in the Phase 1, 2 and 3 sports of football, men's water polo, women's soccer, women's volleyball, and men's and women's basketball since testing began. Of the 1,127 tests, 16 student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19.
