The UF football team has 19 positive cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday evening, three sources close to the team told The Alligator.
The University Athletic Department reported five new positive cases and six total for Oct. 13, Tuesday via email at 1:01 p.m. The release stated that the report accounted for test results through Monday Oct. 12.
Sources said players were tested for COVID-19 Sunday, Monday and Tuesday following Saturday’s road loss to Texas A&M.
Florida Gators announced via Twitter that the football program is pausing all activity as of Tuesday afternoon because of an uptick in positive cases.
UF Health and the athletic department’s sports medicine staff will reevaluate Wednesday, the release said.
Wednesday’s practice and team meeting are canceled, sources say.
When asked for comment, UF would not disclose any additional information regarding the number of positives on the football team.
“At this point, there has been no impact within our football program, but we will continue our regular testing regiment this week and stay diligent with all of our safety protocols,” Texas A&M Athletic Director Ross Bjork said in a release.
Florida’s next game is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Saturday against LSU at home. LSU does not release the number of athletic cases, but the school’s overall COVID-19 dashboard reports 94 total active cases, 83 students and 11 employees as of Tuesday evening.
This news comes six hours after the SEC announced the postponement of the Vanderbilt-Missouri game due to Vanderbilt’s inability to field 53 scholarship players for the game. The game was scheduled for Saturday.
Payton is a sophomore journalism major from Jacksonville, Florida. She is The Alligator's Spring 2021 digital managing editor. Her previous roles include softball beat writer, football beat writer and online sports editor.
