11 Florida Gators have tested positive for coronavirus, the university confirmed on Tuesday.
A statement from UF spokesperson Steve McClain confirmed the news first reported by Zach Goodall.
“Dating back to April, we’ve had a total of 11 student-athletes from several of our teams test positive. As we’ve said before, we will have positive tests and with guidance from UF health we feel we are well-positioned to manage those cases.”
Florida was prepared for the eventual first positive tests. Speaking with reporters on June 9th, UF Associate athletic directors of sports health Stacey Higgins and Dave Werner reported that Florida had two positive tests, from non-football players, prior to UF officially bringing student-athletes back. At that time Florida had tested 87 football players with 80 negative results and seven pending tests.
“We realize we are going to have to live with COVID,” Higgins said. “We’re going to have positive cases to deal with. Earlier, when we talked about the return-to-campus plan, we have had two student-athletes test positive and we managed those situations. That is something we’re going to have be ready to deal with, and we are going to have live with COVID to be sure.”
While the university would not say which student-athletes tested positive, they made it clear that the positive tests were not all from the football team.
Florida is not alone in having student-athletes test positive for coronavirus. Florida State, USF, and UCF have all reported positive tests. Recently Kansas State and Boise State suspended voluntary workouts after several student-athletes tested positive.