Texas State Athletics announced June 17 five football players tested positive for COVID-19.
The players are believed to have contracted the virus outside of football activities. The five are in self-isolation for 14 days with their care managed by university health professionals, athletic trainers and the team physician.
Only football players were originally allowed to return to campus for workouts June 1 and participated in groups of 10 or less. Athletic Director Larry Teis praised the current health system and said the athletic department is monitoring the situation with the advice of medical professionals.
“We are pleased with our results since [ the players’] arrival on June 1 and believe we have been able to mitigate the circumstances in order to keep our student-athletes safe while working out in our facilities,” Teis said. “We continue to take the precautions of wearing masks during indoor activities and disinfecting the facilities, which include the weight rooms and training rooms. We are following proper guidelines of our health professionals and have not had any positive tests from contact tracing inside our facilities thus far. We are pleased that it appears our protocols have been successful to date.”
Phase two began June 15, allowing men’s and women’s basketball players to participate in workouts. On June 28, limited individual skill workouts involving shared equipment will be allowed, and the University Events Center will open for practices.
The final phase of the plan begins July 6, allowing athletes from all other sports will be allowed to return for voluntary workouts.