DAVIDSON, N.C. — Officials have confirmed a cluster of COVID-19 connected to the baseball team at Davidson College Saturday.
The college reported five baseball players tested positive. The infected students in the cluster are isolating, and their health is being monitored, officials said.
“At first, I was a little nervous. I didn’t want it to expand and shut down and like shut down the campus, and we’re only here for two weeks,” freshman Jake Fernicola said.
The team has been practicing during the summer, and officials said it has been obeying NCAA social distancing and sanitation guidelines.
School officials said they believe the players got the virus in a social setting. They also said there was no problem before a player took an unauthorized trip home out of state.
Officials said all baseball activities have been suspended for two weeks.
Freshman Anthony Speara is on the wrestling team and said the school has strict standards. He also said that students police each other.
“I’ve had people even say something to me if I’m a little close to the guys, my team wrestling team, they will say to space out, so we all keep each other accountable,” Speara said.
Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris issued the following statement in response to Davidson College’s COVID-19 cluster:
“We are working with Davidson officials to assure that those who test positive for COVID-19 are appropriately isolated and that contacts are quarantined. We investigate any potential clusters and provide guidance as needed.
As we continue to see, this virus exploits any process flaw or failure to do what we know stops the spread...wear a mask, wash your hands and stay six feet apart.”
Davidson College said among the 1,607 students on campus being tested weekly, there have been 14 positive tests since Aug. 17. Eight of the infected people are isolating on campus, five are at home and one has recovered.
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