Michigan Athletics put on pause – athletes, coaches, staff asked to quarantine

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – All University of Michigan athletic programs will have a 14-day break starting on Sunday, a school official confirmed Saturday night.

Read: New COVID strain calls for a 2-week break from Michigan athletics

The decision was made by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. All athletic activities in all sports – including games, collective and individual training – were closed until further notice, within 14 days.

Team members – student athletes, coaches and team officials – are asked to immediately isolate or quarantine until further notice.

UM is currently connected to five of the six confirmed cases of the new coronavirus variant B.1.1.7. School officials said some of the positive tests are from people involved in the Athletics Department.

The school said that all five individuals are isolated and are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms.

“Canceling competitions is never something we want to do, but with so many unknowns about this variant of COVID-19, we must do everything we can to minimize the spread among student-athletes, coaches, staff and to student-athletes from other schools” said Warde Manuel, Athletics Director Donald R. Shepherd.

The school is working closely with the Washtenaw County Health Department and the MDHHS on additional mitigation strategies to address the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant in the university community. The university will be carefully considering additional mitigation measures.

There are many unknowns that remain under investigation by UM, local and state public health officials.

No determination was made on how the break could affect games scheduled after February 7.

As of January 23, 2021, Washtenaw County had 14,573 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

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