Positive COVID-19 tests among student-athletes, staff down from last week

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Owen Oszust, General Assignment Reporter

EAST LANSING — On Friday, Michigan State Athletics announced the results of 86 COVID-19 PCR tests from Nov. 12-19 on student-athletes and staff members. 59 of the tests were done on student-athletes and 27 on staff members. There were four positive tests for student-athletes, which is much less than the 15 positive tests from last week. Staff members only had one positive test, also a lower amount compared to the five last week. 

The student-athletes and staff members who tested positive will have daily check-ins with the training staff and remain in isolation that includes services from medical and administrative staff. There will then be more testing and a physician follow-up to determine if each person is ready for workouts.

The Michigan State Athletic Department has performed at least 3,102 COVID-19 tests on student-athletes and staff members since June. Student-athletes have been tested 2,619 times with only 167 of them being positive results. Staff members have only had 12 positive tests out of 483. On Thursday, the Michigan State vs. Maryland football game was canceled due to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases within the Maryland football program. 

Owen Oszust is a general assignment reporter for WDBM Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @Owen_Oszust.