GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators are pausing team activities due to an outbreak in positive COVID-19 cases among players, putting Saturday’s game against LSU in jeopardy.
Nineteen UF football players have tested positive for COVID-19, a source confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel.
Five players tested positive during Sunday testing that the school announced Tuesday. The next wave of positive cases were turned up following tests administered Tuesday morning, a source confirmed.
The Independent Alligator, the UF student newspaper, was the first to report 19 football players tested positive for COVID-19.
“Out of an abundance of caution, team activities are paused as of Tuesday afternoon,” Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin said in a statement. “Head coach Dan Mullen has been in communication with football players and their parents, and I have had conversations with the Southeastern Conference office, last week’s opponent Texas A&M, and this week’s opponent LSU.”
Stricklin said UF Health and Gators sports medicine staff will reevaluate the situation Wednesday.
The decision to delay team activities comes on the heels of Mullen’s call for fans to “pack the Swamp” this weekend against LSU. The No. 10 Gators (2-1) were scheduled to host LSU (1-2) on Saturday in a game airing on ESPN.
Mullen’s squad aims to rebound from a 41-38 defeat at Texas A&M.
UF now faces the prospect of becoming the latest program with a game postponed by COVID-19. The virus has prompted schools and conferences to postpone more than two dozen college football games and forced many teams to compete without key players.
The Gators do not identify which players have tested positive for COVID-19, citing federal patient and student privacy laws, but they have competed without numerous athletes during the first three games of this season.
When asked Monday if he regretted the call for more fans at the LSU game amid the coronavirus pandemic, Mullen said he was focused on preparing for the Tigers and confident how UF had mitigated the impact of the highly transmissible virus.
“I think if you look at what we’ve been able to do, the safety precautions we have that our players have followed, our coaches follow, our staff follows, you know, I think we’re a model of safety of what we’ve been doing during this time period,” Mullen said Monday. “So, I’m really proud of how we’ve handled everything and how safe we’ve been with everything we’re doing and all the precautions we’ve had in place during this time.”
Following UF’s loss this past Saturday at Texas A&M, Mullen said the crowd had a major impact on the Aggies’ win on a last-second field goal. The school announced 24,709 fans watched the game at Kyle Field, which seats 102,733.
Mullen said he hoped school administrators would follow Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Phase 3 reopening guidelines allowing full capacity at the state’s sports facilities, including the 88,548-seat Swamp.
Stricklin and school president Dr. Kent Fuchs responded there were no plans to increase UF stadium capacity beyond the 20% allowed for the Oct. 3 home opener against South Carolina, observing CDC and local health recommendations.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey reportedly informed coaches and athletics directors fines and possible suspensions could be coming for those who do not follow COVID-19 protocols, including wearing masks on sidelines.
A crowd of 15,120 attended the Gators 38-24 win over South Carolina, about 800 fewer people than the school planned to allow. A similar crowd is expected if Mullen’s squad is able to field a team Saturday against LSU.