Three UCF Football Players Test Positive for COVID-19 After Returning to Voluntary Workouts
By UCF Knights // June 10, 2020
The three players are in isolation for two weeks
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Three UCF football players were tested as part of the return this month of 60 football student-athletes to the UCF campus for voluntary workouts.
The three team members who tested positive are now in isolation for two weeks and are monitored daily via wellness checks, and they receive contactless meal deliveries.
The cases have been reported to the Orange County Health Department.
Individuals with whom the positive student-athletes have come in direct contact in the last two weeks are being traced and notified.
The Florida Department of Health is providing additional direction on follow-up for those in close contact.
“Our top priority is to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes,” says UCF vice president and director of athletics Danny White.
“We will do everything necessary to support the student-athletes under our care on campus.
“Our plan and protocols are working. We will continue working through our medical processes, as this initial testing phase allows us to respond appropriately.”
The student-athletes are under the care of the UCF Athletics COVID-19 medical team led by Dr. Michael V. Jablonski, medical director, UCF Athletics, and president, Jewett Orthopedic Clinic Orlando Health, and Mary Vander Heiden, director of sports medicine, UCF Athletics.
Also available are Orlando Health specialists in public health and infectious disease as well as the full UCF Sports Medicine staff.
“These results are not surprising given the number of tests that were performed and the different areas and regions these players are coming from,” says Dr. Jablonski.
“It confirms the importance of the protocols that have been established through the work of multiple medical experts.”
UCF Athletics is working closely with the student-athletes and the UCF Athletics medical staff to monitor the individuals’ health and determine the best treatment and path moving forward.
The student-athletes will not participate in any UCF workouts until the quarantine period expires and the student-athletes are re-tested and test negative.
The health and safety of UCF student-athletes, coaches and athletic staff and all those potentially impacted by this situation are paramount in all ongoing discussions and decisions.
The football student-athletes took part in various COVID-19 educational sessions last week before they began their voluntary workouts (running and lifting) Monday.
