Notre Dame Football Pauses Offseason Workouts
A University of Notre Dame football representative has confirmed that the football team’s winter strength and conditioning program has been put on pause because of COVID-19 concerns.
The team worked out yesterday (Friday, Feb. 19) and has no scheduled workouts this weekend. When the off-season program will resume is uncertain. Spring practice has been projected to begin sometime in the latter part of March.
Since the start of the second semester on Feb. 3, the campus has had a spike in recent weeks. This has included postponing the women's basketball game versus Syracuse on Thursday, the No. 2-ranked women's lacrosse team postponing a couple of contests, and the baseball team calling off its trip to LSU this weekend for a three-game series against different programs to open the 2021 campaign.
A statement released by the school regarding these postponements/cancellations read: "The decision was made out of an abundance of caution following positive tests, subsequent quarantining and contact tracing within the team. The program is adhering to the outlined protocols within the ACC Medical Advisory Group report."
Per the South Bend Tribune, after averaging between four and seven new student cases from Jan. 25 through Feb. 7, the university began reporting a sharp increase in student cases on Feb. 8. By Feb. 13, the seven-day moving average of positive cases had reached 30.9.
The Tribune reported a large student gathering at Finnie’s Next Door, a popular student bar in downtown South Bend, that had a “100 Days Before Graduation” theme on Feb. 10. That has become a source of possible contact tracing.
Notre Dame’s student newspaper The Observer reported this Wednesday that with the spike in numbers, on-campus practices will be modified. This includes reducing seating capacity by 25 percent in dining and lounge facilities for social distancing purposes.
Classes will continue to meet in person, but all student activities will be virtual instead of in-person. Undergraduates are permitted only up to two guests in their rooms, and from the same residence hall.
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