Five more student-athletes at Notre Dame test positive for COVID-19

 

NOTRE DAME, Ind.—Five additional student-athletes have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Notre Dame Football.

The Notre Dame Football program underwent two rounds of COVID-19 testing this week after the university moved classes to remote instruction on Tuesday.

A total of 232 tests were administered to student-athletes and five of them came back positive, the university physician said.

The five athletes who tested positive are now in isolation and their parents have been notified, the university said. 

After conducting contact tracing, six football student-athletes have been placed in quarantine.

The football team will not practice Thursday and will undergo an additional round of COVID-19 testing on Friday morning. 

Since June 18, Notre Dame has administered 851 COVID-19 tests to members of the football program. Nine of those tests have come back positive. Two of those positive tests were from initial report testing. 

Notre Dame is one of three schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference to move to online-only classes.

North Carolina State University announced Thursday that it will move undergraduate courses online starting August 24 in an effort to keep football alive for the 2020 fall season.

While the Irish have seen a slight increase in overall cases, the team has a 98.9 percent negative rate and so far, the team is continuing forward with a 2020 football season.

Irish Illustrated reported that Notre Dame has even added the University of South Florida to its 2020 schedule.

The Irish will reportedly host the Bulls on September 19, replacing the canceled game against Western Michigan.

If it happens, the game will be the second time that USF and Notre Dame have played each other.

The two teams played against each other for the first time on September 3, 2011. 

Skip Holtz, the son of legendary Irish coach, Lou Holtz, brought his South Florida Bulls to Notre Dame Stadium to take on Brian Kelly's Fighting Irish.

On the opening drive, with the Irish about to score, running back Jonas Gray fumbled the ball in the redzone and Kayvon Webster scooped it up and returned it 96 yards for the touchdown.

The play shocked the Irish crowd.

Then the skies opened up and the entire stadium had to evacuate for not one, but two lightning and rain delays for a total of about three hours. 

A young Tommy Rees took over for a floundering Dayne Crist at quarterback but it wasn't enough. USF beat Notre Dame 23-20.