NC State halts sports-related activities after COVID-19 cluster found within athletics department

NC State announced Monday evening that is has found three additional COVID-19 clusters, one of which is associated with the athletics department. The school provides no specifics about which sport(s) are affected, and not surprisingly, NC State has shut down all athletics-related activities for the time being.

From the release regarding the clusters:

One cluster is in Carroll Residence Hall, currently with 9 positive cases, located on main campus. All residents in this residence hall are being provided with additional information about the situation and next steps. If you visited Carroll Hall between Aug. 20 and today, you can make an appointment with Student Health Services to be tested, 919-515-2563.

The second cluster is at the Standard Apartment Complex, located off campus in the 3100 block of Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, currently with five cases identified, all of whom are NC State students.

The third cluster is associated with NC State Athletics, currently with 27 positive cases identified. Not all cases are student athletes.

That is an alarming number within the athletics department; I imagine we’ll get more specifics on the situation before too long.

NC State updated its campus-wide coronavirus numbers for the week of Aug. 16-23 and the rate of positive tests increased substantially, to 16.6%. Over 46% of tests performed by Student Health Services were positive. Eighty-six housing units on campus are currently occupied by students in quarantine or isolation.